With rising rents nationwide, and fewer remote work opportunities, there are question marks over whether the urban exodus still makes financial sense
Shawna Scott, who left Dublin in June 2020 and now owns a house in Co Galway. Photo: Ray Ryan
After the first Covid lockdown was lifted in June 2020 and a ban on domestic travel was eased, Shawna Scott, the owner of online retailer Sex Siopa, packed her entire stock of sex toys and her belongings into a rental van parked outside her rental house in Dublin and drove to Sligo in a quest for cheaper rent, more space and a lower cost of living.
The Seattle-born woman had been paying €650 a month for a box room in a shared house in Dublin. During lockdown, she spotted a Daft.ie listing for a three-bed semi-detached house with a garden for €800 in Sligo town and rented the house, sight unseen, after a local letting agent gave her a video walkthrough.
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