North Coast facing new ‘housing crisis’

RENTS charged to long term tenants are rising faster in Causeway Coast and Glens than anywhere else in Northern Ireland.

Latest government figures show the annual rate of rental price growth across the borough hit 13.9 per cent this summer.

The average cost of renting privately owned accommodation is now £662 per month.

And although rental prices remain higher in the greater Belfast area, one MLA says the new figure illustrates the housing crisis facing the North Coast.

MLA Claire Sugden draws attention to large numbers of previously rented houses lost to wealthy second home owners entering the more lucrative short term holiday let market or leaving them empty for much of the year.

“This has had the dual effect of pushing housing sale prices beyond the reach of most locals and shrinking the rental market,” she said.

Earlier this summer, the Chronicle featured a new government report which laid bare huge earnings from holiday lets that are impacting the rental market.

The research paper suggested a property’s earning potential from short-stay visitors was eight times that of locals seeking long-term rented homes.

Read the full story in this week's Chronicle.