Flat hunting is a pain, says Mark Ryan in an email to Apartment Living . "I'm 24 years old, on £32,000 (#40,640) a year and it looks as if I will be going back home to mother."

Ryan moved out of home last year and is now looking for an apartment in the city centre. He has viewed only two or three apartments in the last two months.

"In order to see a place now, you have to first call the agent and see if it has been taken. Then you are told that the appointments book is full and to call back two hours before the viewing to see if anyone has cancelled. I am waiting for a call from a letting agent to see if they can fit me in for viewing tonight, but I don't hold out much hope."

The advertisement for one of the apartments he managed to view read, "Two-bed apartment within walking distance of St Stephen's Green. Kitchen Livingroom and bathroom. Must be seen. Rent £800 per month."

"I thought this was the one," he says, "It actually was within walking distance of St Stephen's Green but the ad should have read "Three-quarters of a room, Kitchen and Livingroom as one. Bathroom - must hold breath when using. Must be seen to be believed"."

"I know people say you are paying for the location etcetera but come on - I would not let it to Hannibal himself and I don't think he'd take it anyway." Ryan wants an apartment, not a house, because of the maintenance involved. "You usually have a garden front and back in a house which needs to be maintained and I can tell you from living with two male friends, I know that if they won't clean their rooms, you can forget about the garden." he says, helpfully adding "also, you probably know most men are not big into cleaning, so the smaller the square footage that needs to be cleaned the better for everyone involved."

Given the current chronic shortage of rental accommodation, having a strong preference for either an apartment or a house can involve a long and frustrating search. According to Audrey Strong of Sherry FitzGerald's lettings department, the supply problem is exacerbated by the fact that many people are renewing their leases and staying put.

"There is a huge demand for apartments but equally as much demand for semi-detached houses with three people sharing. There is demand across the city for accommodation, as many people want to be near their workplace. Younger people want the hubbub of the city and to be near Grafton Street and Temple Bar, whereas families want somewhere with schools and shopping centres."

With the investor out of the market now that rental income is subject to the highest tax rates, it looks as if this situation is set to continue. The scarcity of good accommodation has meant that rents are on an upward spiral, so often the choice between an apartment and a house comes down to budget. Mark Pankhurst says he lives in an apartment rather than a house with his girlfriend because "it just happened that way".

"We just looked for something affordable and found apartments. My girlfriend lived in a house in Fairview when she arrived in Dublin and was sharing the place with two others. It was fine, nicely decorated with plenty of room and everybody pretty much got along. "I suppose the advantage of having an apartment is that we've got our own space. Although there's more room in a house, you're either paying a lot more to rent the whole place or sharing the space with others. That's great if you are sharing with somebody who you really get on with, but having lived together in our place for a year now, I think it'd be difficult to get used to sharing."

For a couple sharing, a one-bedroom apartment for £700 a month makes more financial sense than a house. However, two friends will pay roughly the same for a two-bedroom apartment in the city centre as they will for a three-bedroom semidetached house in the suburbs - around £1,100. Which they choose will largely depend on age, lifestyle, the amount of space they require and whether they are lucky enough to actually find what they are looking for.

If they work and socialise in town and want to save on taxi-fares, petrol and battling through traffic, then the apartment in the city centre makes more sense. If they want a garden, somewhere to set up a home office or a place to escape to from the city, then the house may be a better choice.

High rents have meant that people are having to return to their student days - sharing with large groups of people to cover the rent. Helen Toal, who e-mailed Apartment Living after a previous article on substandard rental accommodation, said she and her fiance were searching for an apartment and were "becoming increasingly despondent about the prospects of finding one that suits us".

"At a budget of £700 per month, I thought that we wouldn't have too many problems, but having seen some of the most awful apartments, we are having to face the fact it may be some time before we find our home."

They were looking for a one-bedroom apartment. "For £750 you can get somewhere decent enough on the south-side, nearish town. The place will be small, so there is no extra room for an office area or a storage area. A house with at least two bedrooms represents a higher quality of life, in my opinion, as one would be able to use the extra space for a computer, storage or as a spare room. There are also the added benefits of extra parking, a garden perhaps, and more privacy than one would get with an apartment.

"However, in order to get a house close to that price one would have to look further away from the city centre, such as west Dublin and the rent would be at least £50 to £100 extra per month."

In a subsequent e-mail she told Apartment Living that her fiance's parents were "so appalled by their apartment hunting experience" they have offered to help them buy a house by lending them the money for a deposit. "The house will probably be in West Dublin, in Tallaght or Clondalkin, but it will be ours and we won't have to deal with landlords again."

emorgan@irish-times.ie