On 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 legal drafting by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. 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.
As part of the legislative process, the pre-legislative scrutiny report has recently been produced by the members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage and has been issued to my Department for consideration.
The text of the Bill will be finalised for publication as soon as possible.
A small number of consequential Regulations will be made by the Minister directly after enactment of the Bill and in time for the smooth operation of the new measures from 1 March 2026. The Regulations will relate to the commencement of relevant provisions and the prescription of various notices under the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2025 including to update the notices with regard to rent reviews and exemptions from the rent increase restriction and the statement that issues by the Residential Tenancies Board to tenants and landlords upon the registration of a tenancy. Preparation of the necessary Regulations is underway, with a view to laying them before the Houses of the Oireachtas in advance of 1 March 2026.
A detailed communications campaign by my 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: [Government Reforms to the Rental Sector – Starting 1 March 2026] (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/government-reforms-to-the-rental-sector-starting-1-march-2026/).
