From March 1st, 2026 Ireland’s rental laws are changing.
The changes are designed to provide stronger tenant protections. They reset the rules on how a landlord can end a tenancy and, for the first time ever, introduce a national system of rent control.
Under the new rules, Rent Pressure Zones are to be replaced by a new national system of rent control that covers all private and student-specific accommodation tenancies across Ireland.
While these changes are significant, they will only apply to new tenancies created from March 1st, 2026. They do not change the rules for existing tenancies.
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What to expect?
If your tenancy is created on or after March 1st, 2026, you will now be entitled to a minimum six-year tenancy cycle, called a Tenancy of Minimum Duration (TMD).
Your landlord can still end your tenancy at any time if you breach your obligations or the property is no longer suitable for your needs.
If your landlord has four or more tenancies, or is a company, these are the only reasons they can end your tenancy.
However, if your landlord has less than four tenancies, there are some additional reasons they can end your tenancy during those six years.
These include situations where the smaller landlord needs to sell in order to avoid undue financial or other hardship, or where the landlord, or a close family member of the landlord, needs to live in the property.
Remember, if a landlord has four tenancies, they are a large landlord, even if the tenancies are all in one building that has been subdivided to create separate, self-contained units.
If you receive a Notice of Termination for a new tenancy created from March 1st, 2026, but are unsure how many tenancies your landlord has, the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) can provide that information. You will need to give the RTB a copy of your Notice of Termination before they can share this information.
New rules for rent increases
Under the new national system of rent control, rent in private tenancies can only be increased once per year, by two per cent, or by the rate of inflation, whichever is the lower.
For private tenancies created after March 1st, 2026, resetting to market rent is allowed when a new tenancy begins if the last tenancy ended because the tenant left by choice, breached their obligations, or if the property no longer suited their needs.
Alternatively, and again only for private tenancies created after March 1st, 2026, resetting to market rent is allowed at the end of the six-year minimum tenancy cycle.
For tenancies created before March 1st, 2026, resetting to market rent is not allowed. In these cases, annual increases track inflation, but are capped at 2 per cent if inflation rises about this rate.
For student accommodation, resetting to market rent is only allowed once every three years, starting from March 1st, 2029, while national rent controls do not apply to approved Housing Body and cost rental tenancies.
The RTB is there to help
Market rent is the amount a tenant would reasonably pay a landlord for a similar home in the area.
Under the new rules, landlords must prove that the rents they set truly reflect market rates. To do so, from March 1st, 2026, they must use the RTB Rent Register on rtb.ie to identify three examples of rent paid for similar properties in a comparable area.
From March 1st, 2026, if a landlord is setting to market rent, they must give their tenant a statement to that effect, with details of three rents in the area.
If, as a tenant, you believe your landlord has set their rent above market rate, you can bring a dispute case to the RTB or report the landlord for investigation.
A landlord cannot evict tenants just to increase rent, because tenants are protected from economic evictions under the new rules. The rental law changes prevent a landlord from resetting to market rent for a new tenancy unless the last tenancy in the property ended because the tenant left by choice, breached their obligations or the property no longer suited their needs.
Setting to market rent is not allowed for a tenancy created before March 1st, 2026, unless the landlord has substantially refurbished or renovated the property.
A landlord can also set to market rent if a property has not been let for two years but the last tenancy ended through a no-fault eviction.
A tenant with a fixed-term tenancy agreement still has all the same security of tenure benefits as other private tenants. They will still get a minimum six-year tenancy cycle, and the reasons their landlord can end a tenancy will again depend on how many tenancies the landlord has.
However, tenants in a fixed-term tenancy do need to be careful as there may be penalties in their contract if they decide to end the tenancy before the end of their fixed term.
The new rules do not apply to renters who share a property with a landlord, such as by renting a room in the landlord’s home.
Property sales
Under the new system, when a property is sold with a tenant in situ, the tenant’s six-year Tenancy of Minimum Duration continues under their new landlord.
So, if a tenant had lived in the property for four years under their previous landlord, they would still have two years remaining on their Tenancy of Minimum Duration under their new landlord.
It means the new landlord cannot re-set to market rent until the end of the six-year tenancy cycle. And, if they are a small landlord they must also wait until the end of the six-year cycle if they want to end the tenancy on any of the allowed grounds for small landlords with three or less tenancies.
For example, a property owned by a small landlord can be sold during a six-year tenancy cycle to avoid undue financial hardship, which includes selling the property to discharge a debt owed under the Fair Deal scheme.
Help at hand
The new rent rules require close study by landlords and tenants alike. The best place to find out more is the RTB, the agency responsible for regulating Ireland’s residential rental sector.
To find out all about the changes to Ireland’s rental laws, rtb.ie is your first port of call
