Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
548. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will respond to a query raised regarding the categorisation of a landlord (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71472/25]
View answerOn 14 October 2025, the Government approved the General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025, which is now the subject of priority drafting by the Office of Parliamentary Council and pre legislative scrutiny by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The Bill will amend the current system of rent controls and provide new measures to protect tenants, including stronger security of tenure, to come into effect for new tenancies created on or after 1 March 2026.
The Bill will include a number of provisions to mitigate the impact of 6 year Tenancies of Minimum Duration (TMDs) on a smaller landlord. On 10 June 2025, the Government agreed to define a smaller landlord to mean a landlord who is not a company and has 3 or fewer tenancies.
A detailed communications campaign by this Department, in conjunction with the RTB, will continue to publicise the new legislative measures from 1 March 2026.
Up-to-date information is available at: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/government-reforms-to-the-rental-sector-starting-1-march-2026/.
The information provided in this reply is based on the policy measures approved by the Government on 10 June 2025 to come into effect on 1 March 2026, in order to boost investment in the supply of homes available for rent and keep existing landlords in the market. The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill will be published as soon as possible and will be subject to debate, and open to amendment, during the legislative process in the Houses of the Oireachtas.
