Warning to landlords ahead of new rent rules coming in force on Sunday

Landlords have been warned to get up to speed and comply with radical rent reforms coming into effect from Sunday.

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), which is the regulator for the sector, said the new rules will set out when rents can be re-set rents and warned landlords that enforcement action will be taken against them if they breach the rules.

The changes to rental laws mainly apply to new tenancy agreements entered into from Sunday, March 1.

Existing tenancies will not be affected to any large extent, and the new legislation does not alter the terms of current agreements, the RTB confirmed.

The main change for existing tenancies is that the whole country has been designated as a rental pressure zone, which means rent rises will be restricted to 2pc a year or the inflation rate, whichever is the lower.

But for agreements put in place from Sunday on, there will be new rolling six-year tenancies.

The new provision means landlords wil be re-set rents to market rent, but in limited circumstances, for post March 1 tenancies.

Otherwise, new tenancies will be restricted to 2pc a year or the rate of inflation.

RTB director Rosemany Steen said the rules will mean that a landlords with a tenant in place since before Sunday will not be allowed to use comparable rents in neighbouring rented properties to re-set the rent.

If they reviewing rent for an existing tenant they will have to sent the review notice to the tenant, and for the first time they will have to send this review to the RTB. The review has to be sent 90 days before the new rent takes effect.

For new tenancies, agreed from this Sunday on, landlords will be able to re-set the rent to what is called market rents.

To arrive at this rent amount they will be required to provide three examples of rents paid for comparable properties drawn from a new online tool, the RTB Rent Register.

The rents paid by all registered tenancies are on the register.

Ms Steen said landlords will only be able to re-set rents for new tenancies signed after March 1, and at the end of a six-year tenancy.

She warned: “The new rules are not a free-for-all. There are clear guidelines on rent changes and we will enforce them.”

However, Ms Steen admitted there were no new enforcement officers employed in the board ahead of the new rules coming in.

She said the board was in discussions with the Department of Housing on staffing levels.

But it will be possible to do much of the enforcement digitally in future as landlords will have to submit documents on terminations, rent review and re-setting. This will allow the RTB to police the market, Ms Steen said.

The Rent Register draws on RTB tenancy registration data and is updated on a daily basis from the board’s tenancy registration system.

It allows landlords to search for rents paid for similar tenancies in the same Local Electoral Area as the tenancy they are setting rent for.

Opposition parties claim the new rent setting rules for new tenancies will lead to a surge in rental costs.

Source: Charlie Weston, Irish Independent, 25th February 2026.