Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026

PART 1 Preliminary and General

1. Short title, commencement, collective citations and construction

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026.

(2) This Act (other than Part 3 and section 31) shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage may by order or orders appoint either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or provisions.

(3) Part 3 shall come into operation 7 days after the passing of this Act.

(4) The Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2025 and Part 2 may be cited together as the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004 to 2026 and shall be construed together as one.

(5) (a) The Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2025 and section 30 may be cited together as the Planning and Development Acts 2000 to 2026.

(b) The Planning and Development Acts 2024 and 2025 and section 31 may be cited together as the Planning and Development Acts 2024 to 2026.

2. Repeals

2. The following provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 are repealed:

(a) sections 24A, 24B, 24BA and 24C, and

(b) subsections (1) and (2) of section 39A.

PART 2 Amendment of Residential Tenancies Act 2004

3. Definition

3. In this Part, “Principal Act” means the Residential Tenancies Act 2004.

4. Amendment of section 4(1) of Principal Act

4. Section 4(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘BER’ has the same meaning as it has in the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012);

‘floor area’ means—

(a) in the case of a dwelling to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012) apply, the floor area recorded in respect of the dwelling on the BER register on the basis of a BER assessment in accordance with those Regulations, and

(b) in any other case, the floor area within the meaning of Article 6 of the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 497 of 1997);

‘personal public service number’ means a number allocated and issued in accordance with section 262 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005;

‘postcode’ means postcode within the meaning of section 66 of the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011;

‘registered number’, in relation to a company, means the number assigned to the company in the register kept by the Registrar of Companies under section 887(2) of the Companies Act 2014;

‘tax reference number’ means the reference number stated on any return of income, form or notice of assessment issued to the company or other body corporate concerned by the Revenue Commissioners;

‘tenancy of minimum duration’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 35B(1);”.

5. Amendment of section 6(1) of Principal Act

5. Section 6(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (c):

“(ca) by sending it by electronic means to an email address, fax number or other electronic contact point used by the person for receiving emails, faxes or other electronic messages, where a record that the notice or other document has been sent is made for the sender by the email system, fax machine or other electronic system used;”.

6. Amendment of section 12(1) of Principal Act

6. Section 12(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (i):

“(i) in the case of a tenancy (other than a tenancy to which section 5(4) of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 applies) created on or after 1 March 2026 (in this paragraph referred to as a ‘relevant tenancy’), furnish the tenant and the Board, in writing, with the following information at the commencement of the relevant tenancy:

(i) the amount of rent that was last set under the most recent previous tenancy, if any, of the dwelling;

(ii) the date the rent was last set under the most recent previous tenancy, if any, of the dwelling;

(iii) a statement as to how the rent set under the relevant tenancy has been calculated having regard to section 19;

(iv) the number assigned under section 135(3) in respect of the most recent previous tenancy, if any, of the dwelling;

(v) by reference to the published register, the amount of rent payable and the number assigned under section 135(3) in respect of the most recent tenancy, preceding the date of commencement of the relevant tenancy, of each of 3 dwellings—

(I) of a similar size (determined by reference to floor area), number of bedrooms, type, character and (where applicable) BER to the dwelling the subject of the relevant tenancy, and

(II) situated in a comparable area to that in which the dwelling the subject of the relevant tenancy is situated.”.

7. Amendment of section 16 of Principal Act

7. Section 16 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (c):

“(ca) on the request of the landlord or any person or persons acting on the landlord’s behalf in relation to the landlord’s intended entry into an enforceable agreement of the type referred to in paragraph 3 of the Table to section 34 (in this paragraph referred to as an ‘intended transfer’), allow, at reasonable intervals—

(i) the landlord,

(ii) any person or persons acting on the landlord’s behalf,

(iii) a prospective buyer of the dwelling (accompanied by a person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii)), or

(iv) any person or persons acting on the prospective buyer’s behalf (accompanied by a person referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii)),

access to the dwelling (on a date and time agreed in advance with the tenant) for the purposes of inspecting the dwelling in connection with the intended transfer,”.

8. Amendment of section 19 of Principal Act

8. Section 19 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in subsection (3), by the substitution of “1 March 2026” for “the relevant date”,

(b) in subsection (4)—

(i) in paragraph (a)—

(I) by the deletion of “in a rent pressure zone at any time after the commencement of section 3 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021”,

(II) by the insertion of “, subject to paragraph (aa),” after “shall”, and

(III) by the substitution of “CPI number” for “HICP value” in both places where it occurs in subparagraph (ii),

(ii) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) subparagraph (i) of paragraph (a) shall not apply where—

(i) the dwelling is one of a number of dwellings comprising an apartment complex or a dwelling situated in a building or part of a building referred to in subsection (1A) of section 3 to which this Act applies,

(ii) a commencement notice or a 7 day notice, as the case may be, was given or submitted to a building control authority on or after 10 June 2025, and any regulations made under section 6(2) of the Building Control Act 1990 have been complied with, in respect of—

(I) works consisting of construction of the apartment complex, or building or part of a building, as the case may be, in which the dwelling is situated,

(II) works consisting of an extension to permanently increase the floor area of the apartment complex, or building or part of a building in which the dwelling is situated, by an amount not less than 25 per cent of that floor area as it stood immediately before the commencement of the works, or

(III) works in respect of a change of use of a structure to create the apartment complex, or building or part of a building in which the dwelling is situated, where on completion of the works the apartment complex or building or part of a building, as the case may be, occupies not less than 25 per cent of the floor area of the structure as it stood immediately before the commencement of the works.”,

and

(iii) in paragraph (b)—

(I) by the substitution of “CPI number” for “HICP value” in each place where it occurs, and

(II) in the definition of “previous HICP value”—

(A) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “1 March 2026” for “the commencement of section 3 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021”, and

(B) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “1 March 2026” for “such commencement”,

(c) in subsection (4C) by—

(i) the deletion of paragraph (a),

(ii) the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) establish and maintain a rent increase calculator to calculate any increase in rent in accordance with subsection (4),”,

and

(iii) the substitution, in paragraph (b), of “CPI numbers” for “HICP values”,

(d) in subsection (4D) by—

(i) the deletion of paragraph (a), and

(ii) the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (a):

“(aa) the means by which the rent increase calculator referred to in subsection (4C)(aa) shall operate to accurately calculate any increase in rent by applying the CPI numbers to the rent,”,

(e) in subsection (5)—

(i) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) to the rent first set under a tenancy created on or after 1 March 2026 of—

(i) a dwelling—

(I) in a protected structure or proposed protected structure within the meaning of section 2 of the Planning and Development Act 2024, or

(II) that is such a structure,

provided that no tenancy in respect of that dwelling subsisted during the period of one year immediately preceding the date on which the tenancy concerned was created,

(ii) a dwelling, other than a dwelling referred to in subparagraph (i), in respect of which no tenancy subsisted during the period of two years immediately preceding the date on which the tenancy concerned was created,

(iii) a dwelling, other than a dwelling referred to in subsection (1A) of section 3, in respect of which the most recent previous tenancy during the period of two years immediately preceding the date on which the tenancy concerned was created, was—

(I) a Part 4 tenancy that was terminated by the landlord by serving a notice of termination on the tenant of the dwelling that cited as a reason or reasons for the termination the ground or grounds specified in paragraph 1, 1A or 2 of the Table to section 34, or

(II) a tenancy to which Part 4 did not apply that was terminated by the landlord by serving a notice of termination that stated as a reason or reasons for the termination the grounds referred to in section 62(1)(da)(i), (ii) or (iii),

or

(iv) a dwelling, other than a dwelling referred to in subsection (1A) of section 3, in respect of which the most recent previous tenancy was terminated by the tenant,”,

and

(ii) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (a):

“(aa) in the case of a tenancy (other than a tenancy to which section 5(4) of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 applies) created on or after 1 March 2026 of a dwelling (other than a dwelling referred to in subsection (1A) of section 3), to the rent set under the tenancy following a period of not less than 6 years during which—

(i) subsection (4) applied to the rent under the tenancy, and

(ii) any setting of that rent was in compliance with the requirements of subsection (4),

(ab) in the case of a tenancy created on or after 1 March 2026 and before 1 March 2029 of a dwelling referred to in subsection (1A) of section 3, to the rent set under the tenancy following a period of not less than 3 years during which—

(i) subsection (4) applied to the rent under the tenancy, and

(ii) any setting of that rent was in compliance with the requirements of subsection (4),

(ac) in the case of a tenancy created on or after 1 March 2029 of a dwelling referred to in subsection (1A) of section 3 that was such a dwelling for the 3 years immediately preceding the date on which the tenancy concerned was created—

(i) to the rent first set under the tenancy, provided that—

(I) a tenancy in respect of the dwelling subsisted for at least 6 months during each of those 3 years,

(II) subsection (4) applied to the rent under the tenancy or tenancies, and

(III) any setting of that rent was in compliance with the requirements of subsection (4),

and

(ii) to any rent subsequently set under the tenancy following a period of not less than 3 years during which—

(I) subsection (4) applied to the rent under the tenancy or tenancies, and

(II) any setting of that rent was in compliance with the requirements of subsection (4), or”,

(f) in subsection (5A)(a)—

(i) in subparagraph (i), by the substitution of “floor area of the dwelling by an amount equal to not less than 25 per cent of the floor area” for “floor area (within the meaning of Article 6 of the Building Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 497 of 1997)) of the dwelling by an amount equal to not less than 25 per cent of the floor area (within such meaning)”, and

(ii) by the deletion of “(within the meaning of those Regulations)” in each place where it occurs,

(g) in subsection (5B)—

(i) by the deletion of “in a rent pressure zone”, and

(ii) in paragraph (a), by the insertion of “and the tenant” after “the Board”,

(h) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (6):

“(6) Where a notice referred to in section 22(2) has been served by a landlord on the tenant before 1 March 2026, then this section shall apply to the new rent, referred to in section 22(2), stated in that notice in accordance with section 22, as if section 8 of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 had not been enacted.”,

and

(i) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (7):

“(7) In this section—

‘7 day notice’ has the same meaning as it has in the Building Control Act 1990;

‘building control authority’ has the same meaning as it has in the Building Control Act 1990;

‘commencement notice’ means a notice referred to in paragraph (k) of section 6(2) of the Building Control Act 1990;

‘CPI number’ means the All Items Consumer Price Index Number compiled and published by the Central Statistics Office.”.

9. Application of section 20 (frequency with which rent reviews may occur)

9. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 20A:

“20B. (1) Where, immediately before the coming into operation of section 2(a) of the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026, section 24C applied to a tenancy, section 24C shall continue to apply to the tenancy as if that Act had not been enacted.

(2) Where a tenancy commences on or after 1 March 2026, then any review of the rent under the tenancy shall be carried out as if subsections (4) to (6) of section 20 had not been enacted.”.

10. Amendment of section 22 of Principal Act

10. (1) The Principal Act is amended in section 22—

(a) in subsection (2), by the insertion of “, and a copy of that notice is served on the Board on the same day on which the notice is served on the tenant,” after “subsection (2A)”,

(b) in subsection (2A)—

(i) in paragraph (c)(ii)—

(I) by the substitution of “rent information contained in the published register in relation to dwellings” for “letting values of dwellings”, and

(II) by the substitution of the following clause for clause (I):

“(I) of a similar size (determined by reference to floor area), number of bedrooms, type, character, and (where applicable) BER, to the dwelling the subject of the tenancy, and”,

(ii) in paragraph (d)—

(I) by the substitution of “rent information contained in the published register and the number assigned under section 135(3) in respect of the most recent tenancy of each of 3 dwellings” for “amount of rent sought for 3 dwellings”, and

(II) by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (i):

“(i) of a similar size (determined by reference to floor area), number of bedrooms, type, character, and (where applicable) BER, to the dwelling the subject of the tenancy,”,

(iii) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (d):

“(da) specify the floor area of the dwelling the subject of the tenancy,

(db) where the dwelling the subject of the tenancy is a building to which the European Union (Energy Performance of Buildings) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 243 of 2012) apply, specify the BER in respect of that dwelling,”,

(iv) in paragraph (f), by the deletion of “where the dwelling is in a rent pressure zone (within the meaning given in section 19(7)),”,

(v) in paragraph (g), by the deletion of “where the dwelling is in a rent pressure zone (within the meaning given in section 19(7)) to which section 19(4) applies,”,

(vi) by the deletion of subsection (2C), and

(vii) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(4) It shall be an offence for a landlord to set a rent pursuant to a review of the rent under a tenancy by serving notice of the rent on the tenant other than in accordance with the condition specified in subsection (2).”.

(2) The amendments of section 22 of the Principal Act effected by subsection (1) shall only apply in respect of a notice referred to in that section served after the date of commencement of subsection (1).

11. Amendment of section 24(1) of Principal Act

11. Section 24(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):

“(b) rent information contained in the published register in relation to dwellings of a similar size (determined by reference to floor area), number of bedrooms, type, character, and (where applicable) BER, to the dwelling and situated in a comparable area to that in which it is situated.”.

12. Amendment of section 34 of Principal Act

12. (1) Section 34 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by the substitution of “Subject to sections 35A and 35B, a Part 4 tenancy” for “Subject to section 35A, a Part 4 tenancy”,

(b) in paragraph (a)—

(i) in subparagraph (ii)—

(I) in clause (I)—

(A) by the substitution of “paragraph 2” for “paragraph 2, 5 or 6”, and

(B) by the substitution of “paragraph,” for “paragraph, and”,

(II) in clause (II), by the substitution of “paragraph, and” for “paragraph,”, and

(III) by the insertion of the following clause after clause (II):

“(III) in the case of paragraph 5 or 6 of that Table, by the statement and the statutory declaration referred to in that paragraph,”,

and