Demand for rent to be capped in Belfast following house price rise

The motion has been brought forward by the Green Party, as the housing market in the Province has experienced rising prices, partly brought on by the advent of home working during lockdown, and the desire of many residents for more spacious homes.

A recent study by Ulster University has shown private sector rents in Belfast had jumped by 5.3% from 2019 to 2020 – higher than anywhere else in NI.

In the first half of 2021, the cheapest average rent for any property type anywhere in the Province was an apartment in Fermanagh and Omagh District, at £441 per month.

In that same district, an average terraced house rent was £498 per month, rising to £538 for semi-detached, and £586 for a detached home.

In Belfast council area the average monthly rent for an apartment was £763 in the same period.

For a terrace the average monthly rent was £792, for a semi it was £782, and for a detached it was £1,062.

Green councillor Malachi O’Hara’s motion, to be discussed from 5.30pm today by the council’s standards and business committee, reads: “This council supports a system of rent controls in the city.

“This council notes with grave concern the escalating prices of rents in all parts of Belfast.

“It notes the failure of the executive to regulate the rental market, and notes the significant additional number of students moving to the city with the relocation of the University of Ulster campus to north Belfast...

“This council calls on the Executive to; immediately bring forward a rent control scheme for the city.”

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