Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
578. Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the fair deal where a house must be sold within one year of the date of death, if a new tenant after 1 March 206 has a right to a six year tenancy in the same house after it is sold; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71950/25]
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 (i.e. a landlord who is not a company and has 3 or fewer tenancies). A smaller landlord will be allowed to terminate a tenancy at any time during a 6 year TMD if:
• the landlord intends to sell the rented dwelling due to financial hardship (to be prescribed in law) and does not wish to do so with the tenant(s) in situ;
• the landlord requires the property for himself/herself or an immediate family member (spouse/civil partner, child or parent) to occupy as a principal private residence;
• the tenant is breaching his/her tenancy obligations; or
• the dwelling is no longer suitable to the accommodation needs of the tenant household.
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.
