Threshold Bedsit Survey

Threshold’s survey is a study of all bedsits available to rent on the open market.This survey was carried out during the first two weeks of February 2009.

Under the new Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2008 (S.I.534/2008) which came into effect generally on the 1st of February 2009, all bedsits which come to the rental market must be self contained. This means they must have their own bathroom and cooking facilities.

There were 172 units of accommodation surveyed. The distribution and summary statistics are presented below:

Category Count

Of the 172 bedsits advertised, only three were available that both complied with the new regulations and were advertised by landlords that accept rent supplement.

Summary Statistics on Rent Levels

The average rent level of the 165 units was €154 with €150 being the most frequently occurring rent level. 23% of the units were under the rent cap.

This chart shows that less than a quarter (23%) of advertised bedsits fell within the rent supplement cap for single persons of €130 and that 77% were above the rent cap level. Of the 23% within the rent caps, only 1.8% (3) were self-contained (with ensuite bath/shower and cooking facilities) and advertised by landlords that accept rent supplement.

Figure 2 shows that average rents for bedsits increased significantly between 2006 and 2008 and decreased by 7% between 2008 and 2009. However, a significant gap remains between maximum level of rent supplement available to single people (€130) and the current average market rent (€154).

Distribution of the rent level by rent cap and whether the landlord accepts rent supplement

Table 3

Table 3 shows that 61 landlords (35%) would accept rent supplement, however 46 of these properties were above rent cap levels, leaving only 15 available and of these only 3 were self contained.

Table 4:
Distribution of the location by rent level: