Tenancy Agreement Generator
Build an RTB-compliant tenancy agreement, the Notice of Rent Setting required since 1 March 2026, an inventory and a compliance checklist.
Learn more →Ireland · Rules in force from 1 March 2026
RTB Rent Review Notice Checker
Find out which rent setting rule applies to your tenancy, when you are next allowed to review, and exactly what your notice must contain to be valid. Free, no sign up.
CPI 3.4% (CSO, July 2026)
Standard cap 2%
Notice not copied to RTB same day: invalid
The short answer. Since 1 March 2026 a single national rent control replaces Rent Pressure Zones. Rent can be increased once every 12 months by 2% or the rate of CPI inflation, whichever is lower. CPI is currently 3.4% (CSO, July 2026), so the 2% limb binds and the ceiling for a standard tenancy is 2%.
Two groups sit outside that. Apartments and student specific accommodation in developments that commenced on or after 10 June 2025 follow CPI with no 2% cap. Approved housing body and cost rental tenancies are outside national rent control altogether.
Resetting to open market rent is allowed only in named situations: a genuinely new tenancy that did not follow a no fault termination, the end of a six year Tenancy of Minimum Duration for tenancies created from 1 March 2026, a property with no tenancy for two years, or a substantial change to the dwelling. A sitting tenancy that began before 1 March 2026 cannot be reset to market rent.
The mistake that voids the whole notice
A rent setting or rent review notice must be sent to the tenant and to the RTB on the same day. If it does not reach the RTB, the notice is invalid, no matter how correct the figure is. This is the single most common and most expensive error under the new regime, and it is not recoverable by sending the copy later.
This checker does not calculate your new rent, and deliberately so. The Act requires you to attach a printout from the RTB's own Rent Calculator, so any third party figure has no standing. What it does is settle the question that comes first and is far easier to get wrong: which pathway your tenancy is on, when you may act, and what has to be in the envelope.
Check your rent setting pathway
Six questions. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
A no fault termination blocks a market rent reset. This is the distinction the rules turn on.
Also covers extensions adding at least 25% floor area, and change of use creating an apartment complex.
Your pathway
Timing
Review interval
Earliest next review
Notice the tenant must get
90 days
What your notice must contain
What to do next
The five rent setting pathways
Every tenancy in the State now sits on one of these. The difference between them is worth thousands a year, and the wrong choice makes the notice invalid rather than merely wrong.
| Tenancy | Annual increase ceiling | Market rent reset |
|---|---|---|
| Private tenancy started before 1 March 2026 | 2% or CPI, whichever is lower | Not allowed while the tenancy continues. Every 6 years for the tenancy. |
| Private tenancy started on or after 1 March 2026 | 2% or CPI, whichever is lower | At the start of a new tenancy unless it followed a no fault termination, and at the end of each 6 year cycle. |
| New apartment, construction commenced on or after 10 June 2025 | CPI, with no 2% cap | At the start of a new tenancy unless it followed a no fault termination. |
| Student specific accommodation | 2% or CPI, whichever is lower | Once every 3 years from 1 March 2029. |
| New SSA apartment, commenced on or after 10 June 2025 | CPI, with no 2% cap | Once every 3 years from 1 March 2029. |
Approved housing body and cost rental tenancies are outside this system entirely. Cost rental rents are set by the cost of providing the home, not by the market, and are reviewed under their own rules.
The three comparables rule, in practice
If you are setting rent at market rate, the statement attached to your notice has to prove the rent is not above market. You do that with three real tenancies from the RTB Rent Register, and the bar is more specific than most landlords expect.
Each of the three examples must be
- A property of similar size, type and character, including BER where the property has one.
- A tenancy that began in the last 3 months. Older entries do not qualify, which is why this cannot be prepared far in advance.
- Identified by its Registered Tenancy number from the RTB Rent Register.
The Rent Register updates daily from RTB tenancy registrations and now carries the rent, dwelling type, bedrooms and bed spaces, local electoral area, floor area and BER. That last change is what makes the comparables test workable, and it is also why a poorly maintained BER record now costs a landlord money at review time.
Where the exemption sits
If you are claiming an exemption from rent control, you must complete Part D of the rent setting or rent review notice. An exemption applies only to the first rent setting or review after you claim it. It does not take the property out of national rent control permanently, which is a common and costly misreading.
What counts as substantial change
To reset rent after works, the dwelling must have had a permanent extension increasing floor area by at least 25%, or a BER improvement of at least 7 levels, or three of the following: the internal layout permanently changed, the dwelling adapted for a person with a disability, the number of rooms permanently increased, a BER of D1 or lower improved by at least 3 levels, a BER of C3 or higher improved by at least 2 levels.
Questions landlords and agents actually ask
What happens if I forget to send the notice to the RTB?
The notice is invalid. The rent does not change, and serving a corrected notice later starts the 90 day clock again from the new service date. There is no cure by late filing, which is why the same day copy to the RTB should be built into the process rather than left to memory.
How much can I increase the rent in Ireland right now?
For a standard tenancy, by 2%. The rule is the lower of 2% or CPI, and CPI is 3.4% as at July 2026 (CSO), so the 2% limb is currently the binding one. Apartments and SSA in developments commenced on or after 10 June 2025 can go to the full CPI figure with no 2% cap. Use the rent increase calculator for the euro amount, and the RTB Rent Calculator for the printout you must attach.
Can I reset to market rent when a tenant leaves?
Only if the tenant left by choice, breached their obligations, or the home no longer met their needs. If the tenancy ended because you or a family member needed the property, or you were changing its use, that is a no fault termination and the new rent stays capped. The distinction is the point of the reform, and the RTB checks it.
Am I a large or small landlord, and does it matter here?
You are a large landlord if you hold four or more tenancies, and any corporate entity is a large landlord regardless of number. The split drives security of tenure and the grounds available for termination rather than the rent cap itself, but it changes what you can do at the end of a six year cycle, so it belongs in the same decision.
Are Rent Pressure Zones really gone?
Yes, from 1 March 2026. One national system now applies everywhere. There is one leftover: in areas that only became an RPZ within the previous 2 years, the rent cannot be reviewed until 24 months after it was last set, and only then does the normal 12 month cycle begin.
Do these rules apply to cost rental and AHB homes?
No. National rent control does not apply to approved housing body or cost rental tenancies. Cost rental rents are set from the cost of delivering and running the home. Our cost rental guide covers how those reviews work.
Source: Residential Tenancies Board, Setting and reviewing private rents from 1 March 2026, and the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2026. CPI is pulled live from the CSO PxStat API. This page is guidance, not legal advice. The statutory calculation must be produced with the RTB Rent Calculator and attached to your notice.