Changes to rent controls announced - thread for clarifying

@stormy - another question if you don't mind, if I bought an apartment now from a landlord who had evicted to sell due to a low rent and then I relet it on 1 March, what type of lease must I grant? Is it a lease under the old system because my new lease carries the old rent or is it the worst of both worlds the old low rent combined with a 6 year or permanent tenancy. If it is the latter, I've just spent a large amount of money buying a liability for myself especially if I am a large landlord (the tenants will probably never leave).

If it is the latter, the IPOA should be warning people of this; it is a trap which is very easy to fall into
 
Greenbook said:
what type of lease must I grant?
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I'm not certain about this, as I don't recall the question being asked. However, there's been no indication that a new tenancy could be established under the old rules, so it's reasonable to assume that's not an option.

I agree the IPOA should be making more noise on the proposals.
 
I would have thought that after the 1st of March all new lease would carry the 6 years rule. However, if the previous tenancy was ended by the landlord to sell, then the 2 per cent maximum increased would apply for the new tenancy. That would only be my interpretation.
 
Thank you @stormy

The IPOA need to be asking the Department of Housing these questions and other questions as well.

There are not many investors buying at the moment, but there must be a few. You would buy on the very reasonable assumption based on everything we've been officially told so far that the property can be relet at market rates after March. But it seems you'll now end up with the following disaster if the seller evicted to sell:

1. The old low rent forever
2. That rent can only ever increase by 2% (and that is so even if you manage to sell the property on).
3. The lease you grant in a six year one or if you are a large landlord a permanent one.

And we only know this because it came out in some private talks between the IPOA and the Department.

Especially if you are a large landlord, if the tenant stays, you've just spent €300k plus or gone into debt to acquire yourself a liability. The IPOA should, at the very least, be warning people of this possibility.
 
Greenbook said:
1. The old low rent forever
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I think you’d be stuck with the old rent for 6 years on the new lease, then could reset to market after 6 years with the new rules (assuming of course SF don’t get into power in the meantime and completely change it all again!)
 
Wavelly said:
I think you’d be stuck with the old rent for 6 years on the new lease, then could reset to market after 6 years with the new rules (assuming of course SF don’t get into power in the meantime and completely change it all again!)
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Very possibily you are correct, but there is no clarity on that and there is a real risk that the new legislation will say that the old rent continues for ever while you lose vacant possession under the new rules. An investor might not find out this until after he had bought.

Issues like this need clarification. For example, if a large landlord sells to a small landlord with the tenant in situ, does the tenant retain the indefinite tenancy? I'd say that there is a good chance he does. This means that large landlords can only really sell to other large landlords; a small landlord won't buy such a property. That means that a large landlord with a property which isn't attractive to other large landlords due to type and/or location now has an unsaleable 'asset' on his hands.

This is full of traps for the unwary.
 
We have an apartment leased to the council. The lease is up soon enough. We were trying to decide whether to keep it after the lease is up, but its just a minefield and its best got rid of I think at this point.

So time to take my football and leave the game for good. I cant believe that the government are still going down a bad road and are too afraid of facing the consequences of their previous actions that they just keep doing worse actions even though its plain as the nose on your face that its just going to make things worse.

I think renting out a residential property from now on is like putting a curse on that property forever. It wont end well.
 
We have been mulling over buying an investment property for our kids down the line for college, which would have added to the rental market for several years before they need it and after they are done with it. What was wobbles over being a landlord is now a blank no given the new rules. Just too risky. We will take our chances with other investment opportunities/other paths for housing us or our kids during the college years. I really hope these new rules allow for current renters or FTB stuck at home to be able to buy their own homes. But I am not optimistic about it.
 
I've a tenant in place since Feb 2017 on whatever the legal tenancy agreement was at the time. Raised the rent in 2022 and again in 2025, but its still approx 30% below market rents. Great tenants btw and would be happy to keep them.

Should I issue them a termination notice now and give them a new contract that starts after March 2026? Same rent etc., just a new tenancy agreement that allows me to reset the rent every 6 years thereafter ?

OR should I leave things as they are and does a 6-year clock start ticking for everyone from March 1st 2026 and I can raise the rent to market rates on March 1st 2032?

Once I can have an avenue to raise the rent to market rates every 6 years, I am happy to continue ....
 
david995 said:
Should I issue them a termination notice now and give them a new contract that starts after March 2026?
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On what grounds would you be able to issue a notice of termination and then give them a new contract to stay in the same property? I don't believe there are any.

Your tenants enjoy a tenancy of indefinite duration and that can only be ended on specific grounds.



david995 said:
does a 6-year clock start ticking for everyone from March 1st 2026 and I can raise the rent to market rates on March 1st 2032?
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No, existing tenancies will not get the six year reset. As it stands any rent increase with those tenants in that property is limited to the lower of inflation or 2%.

There is no mechanism that allows existing tenancies to get back to market rate.
 
As I understand it has to be New Tenants on or after the 1st of March 2026.
If current Tenants are not leaving voluntarily you will be stuck with the current rent rules indefinitely.
Issuing an NOT to the current tenants will not cure your issue now or in the foreseeable future to get market rates.
You are stuck with the current rates plus HCIP
 
Thanks for the responses guys - Unfortunately, looks like I am stuck. At least I have great tenants, so its a low stress, low return investment
 
Well you could exit by giving notice to your tenants and then selling with vacant possession to an owner occupier. Selling to another landlord won't be an option except at a low price.
 
david995 said:
Thanks for the responses guys - Unfortunately, looks like I am stuck. At least I have great tenants, so its a low stress, low return investment
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A Feb 2017 tenancy would have swapped to a Feb 2023 tenancy automatically, as they only last 6 years. This new tenancy is covered by the 2022 rules.

The means that it never ends (unlike the others which have a 6 year cycle).

You can still end it if you plan to sell it within 9 months.

No-fault evictions are allowed for these reasons
  • The landlord or immediate family wants to move in (I think nieces/nephews, or nearer)
  • The landlord wants to sell within 9 months of evictions
  • "Substantial" refurbishment
  • Change of use, e.g. changing to use of offices
You can look up "2022 tenancy rules in Ireland".

The family member must stay at least 12 months, or you have to offer it back to the tenant.
 
Anyone know if a contract that runs Feb 2026 - Feb 2027 will be affected. Like can I give them 6 months notice from July/ August 2026 that I will be selling in early 2026? Thanks
 
Greenbook said:
@stormy - another question if you don't mind, if I bought an apartment now from a landlord who had evicted to sell due to a low rent and then I relet it on 1 March, what type of lease must I grant?
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Perhaps, the best plan would be to sell to an owner occupier. That isn't much help though. Depending on how much below market the rent you can get is, it may be worth considering. The instant you let the tenant in the door you wipe out that much in value for the house (75% of market rent means 25% of the house value is gone if you end up with a long term tenant).

Alternatively, if you leave it not rented for at least 2 years it clears the RPZ rental value (unless the rules don't change by then).

You can leave it vacant, or live in it yourself, and then rent at market rate after 2 years. That might be worth it depending on how below market rent it can be rented at.

argentina said:
Anyone know if a contract that runs Feb 2026 - Feb 2027 will be affected. Like can I give them 6 months notice from July/ August 2026 that I will be selling in early 2026? Thanks
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There are no 1 year tenancy contracts. You can rent it for up to 6 months or for 6 years. A 1 year tenancy means you can't kick them out at 6 months. Then once they enter their 7th month, it switches to a 6 year tenancy.

The evict to sell rules on current tenancies can be triggered at any time.

If it starts Feb 2026, then it will be on the indefinite tenancy rules. It won't ever end, but at least you can evict to sell. That eviction means that it would count as a no-fault eviction, so the buyer won't be able to raise the rents either. You would have to sell to an owner occupier. An investor will downgrade their offer price by the reduction in rental.

The March 2026 rules apparently mean you can evict to sell but only at the end of the 6 year window. That means earliest is 2032 and again assumes no rule change before then to make it harder.
 
Just reading through Threshold's submission on the heads of the bill for the new rental rules - these are https://threshold.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Threshold-HLGH-i-120-Submission.pdf (here)

They've obviously seen the Heads and there is quite a lot in them. A few things stand out to me anyway

1. Market rent is not the rent that the property would fetch on the open market. It seems to be a mixture of the new rent register, the size, the BER, the location and the character/condition ie. a reference rent system which the RTB will presumably police. You can expect tenants to rent a place at rent X and then challenge it.

2. You can still evict within the first 6 months, but you must give a reason. Again, expect challenges here. What if the tenant just turns out to be an unsuitable pain - you can't exactly give that as a reason.

3. They want to get rid of the ability to reset the rent when a tenancy turnsover. This is because the new system will encourage short term tenancies, which of course it does

4. There will be data exchange with the SEAI - the only reason I can think for that is a plan to force us to carryout energy efficient upgrades once the tenancies become permanent or 6 years.

5. They are also looking for a 'rent brake' system, so if rents on new tenancies or at year 6 are increasing too much some sort of break will come in. Dr. Michael Byrne is proposing much the same thing - if rents are increasing by 10% or more, the maximum increase allowed at year 6 or on turnover is 6%. We'll have two parallel sets of rent control systems if this proposal is adopted.

The number of restrictions and number of complications are both huge.
 
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