It’s an impossible situation.

The latest Daft report has revealed that record rent increases have left thousands struggling to pay for accommodation and unable to save for a deposit on a mortgage.

Rents are now 27% higher than their 2008 boom time peak, while the average rent nationwide has risen by just over 75% since bottoming out in late 2011.

The average Cork City rent is now €1,266.

To make things worse, properties are scarce; according to the Daft report, there were just over 640 homes were available to rent in Munster on August 1st, 7% lower than the same date in 2017.

In Dublin, rents are now an average of 34% above their previous peak while in Cork and Galway cities, rents are 25% and 41% above levels recorded a little over a decade ago.

Outside the cities, the average rent is 17% higher than it was in 2008.