Cobh and Maynooth have now been added to the list of rent pressure zones – meaning the rent can’t be raised by more than 4 percent a year.

Nationally, rents rose by almost 8 percent in the last quarter of 2016, compared to the previous year.

The national average rent of 986 euro a month is just 2 euro less than it was at the top of the peak.

Juliette Gash reports;

Min @simoncoveney says days of dreading rent increases are over for the 57% of tenancies now in rent pressure zones pic.twitter.com/UiGHNiAkFe

— Juliette Gash (@JulietteGash) March 29, 2017