What are your rights regarding rent rises in private housing sector?

Who do rent increase rules apply to?

You and your landlord agree the amount of rent you pay for a property at the start of your tenancy.

Your landlord must follow certain rules if they want to raise the rent. These are set out in residential tenancies legislation and apply to tenancies in private rented housing and in student-specific accommodation

What is a Rent Pressure Zone?

Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) are areas where:

Rents are highest and rising quickly

Annual rent increases are capped

RPZs were introduced on December 24, 2016, and were due to end on December 31, 2025. But, in June this year, the Government extended Rent Pressure Zones to all areas nationwide until February 28, 2026. This means all areas are now covered by the rules for rent increases in Rent Pressure Zones.

What are rent increases in RPZs?

Annual rent increases in RPZs are capped in line with the rate of general inflation or 2% a year, whichever is lower.

So, if your landlord reviews the rent every 12 months and the rate of general inflation is 1.5%, then your rent can only be increased by a maximum of 1.5%. However, if the rate of general inflation is higher than 2%, for example, 3%, the rent can only be increased by a maximum of 2%.

If your landlord has not reviewed the rent for a number of years, the 2% cap applies every year.

So, for example, if you moved into rented accommodation in December, 2016, and the rent hasn’t changed since then, the general inflation rate would apply when calculating the rent increase. This is because the inflation rate between December, 2016, and December, 2021, was 6.6%, which is lower than the 10% that would apply under the 2% per year condition (2% per year for 5 years = 10%).

The Residential Tenancies Board’s (RTB) Rent Pressure Zone calculator applies both of these conditions and calculates the allowable rent increase for you. You will find the calculator on www.rtb.ie under the compliance section.

The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2025 brought these initial changes in from June 20, 2025.

What are the proposed changes from March 1, 2026?

A number of changes are not due to apply until March 1, 2026, and need legislation to bring them in. These include that:

Rent controls will apply to tenancies nationwide

Rent increases will be linked to inflation, with a 2% cap on increases in times of high inflation. However, this 2% cap will not apply to rent increases in newly-built apartments.

Large landlords will be banned from ending tenancies with ‘no fault’ evictions. Large landlords are landlords with 4 of more tenancies.

Small landlords with 3 tenancies or less will have minimum 6-year rolling tenancies. During the 6 years, they can only end a tenancy for very limited reasons, such as homelessness. At the end of each 6-year period these landlords can end a tenancy for more reasons, such as selling the property.

All landlords will be able to reset the rent to market value after 6 years unless there is a no-fault eviction.

Landlords will continue to be allowed to:

Sell their rented property with the tenant in place

End a tenancy, if a tenant has broken their tenant responsibilities

Who can request a rent review?

A tenant or a landlord can request a rent review. A rent review can result in an increase or reduction in the rent. Rent increases in Rent Pressure Zones are capped and there are limits on how often the rent can be reviewed. There are different rules about the limits and frequency of rent reviews depending on if the tenancy is an existing or new tenancy. You can contact your local Citizens Information office for more information.

If a landlord wants to get an exemption from rent limits in an RPZ area, they must notify the RTB within 1 month of setting the rent by completing the RTB’s RPZ Exemption Form .

The RTB can investigate and sanction landlords who do not comply with RPZ rules. There are penalties for those who do not follow rent increase limits in RPZs, provide false information about an exemption in an RPZ area, or do not notify the RTB about using an exemption.

You can use the RTB’s calculator to work out if your rent can be raised and by how much. You will need to enter your address or Eircode, the current rent, and the date when the rent was last set.

There is no fee for updating this information with the RTB. The RTB’s website has more information about updating tenancy details.

As a tenant, you can ask your landlord to review the rent if:

You think it is more than the current market rate for the property or

You want a new review and more than 24 months have passed

What are my options is my landlord is raising the rent?

Threshold has detailed advice on how to deal with rent increases. Contact it for advice.

If there is any dispute about the amount of rent being proposed, either side can refer the dispute to the RTB.

If your landlord has given you a valid written notice of the rent increase, you must contact the RTB with your dispute before the date the new rent begins or within 28 days of getting the notice, whichever is later. There is no time limit if the notice is not valid. You must continue to pay your rent until the case has been determined by the RTB.