The Government is considering higher fines for landlords who breach rental rules after the Cabinet approved plans to overhaul the sector.
Ministers on Tuesday agreed to extend Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) across the State while also allowing higher rent increases in new-build apartments.
Minister for Housing James Browne said the level of fines for breaching the rules was being looked at to see “how much can we increase” them by. However, he was not yet able to say what level the higher fines might come in at.
Mr Browne said there was a level after which it would be more appropriate for the courts, rather than the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), to take responsibility for policing the new regime and imposing a fine.
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When speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Mr Browne was unable to “predict” a specific timeline for when rents would come down. He said it would only happen after supply and investment increased, which he believed would follow from the reforms agreed. He would only say he expected rents to fall over time.
The changed rules will allow rents in new-build apartments to be raised after six years above the current RPZ limit of 2 per cent and will end the option of “no-fault evictions” for landlords with four or more tenancies.
There will be a tightening of the circumstances that allow a smaller landlord to evict someone to move in a family member.
A restriction will be introduced on an eviction being allowed only when an immediate family member needs the accommodation or when the landlord is facing bankruptcy, insolvency or “some other particular hardship”.
[ Rules for renters: What are the planned reforms and will they work?Opens in new window ]
If a landlord exercises their right to break a tenancy, they will not be allowed to reset the rent, Mr Browne said – meaning there would not be an economic incentive to engineer an eviction. All landlords will be able to sell a property with the tenant remaining in situ at any time.
Landlords will not be allowed to reset rents during tenancies created before the end of next February.
The Minister also said there would be further funding and support for the RTB.
“The Government wishes to put the sector on notice today that from March 1st, 2026, stronger tenant protections will apply,” he said.
Mr Browne said tenancies will be for an unlimited time, with a “minimum duration” of six years, which would be a “real leap forward” for tenant protections.
Only new-build apartments will be able to increase rents by more than the 2 per cent currently allowed under the RPZ legislation.
This will be limited to increases equivalent to the rate of inflation at the time. That will only apply to apartments being commenced from today, so it will be several years before these units come to the market.
[ Proposed changes to rent rules will incentivise evictions, housing charity warnsOpens in new window ]
“The changes I’m making today will have a significant impact for our rental sector, making much-needed investment more attractive while strengthening the protections and providing greater certainty for renters,” he said.
He said there was a “fine balance” to be struck as the State aims to attract investment in the apartment building sector while ensuring fair treatment for tenants. Mr Browne is promising a suite of further measures, including planning extensions and planning exemptions, in the coming weeks.
“This is not being presented as a silver bullet. This is to strike a balance, to bring clarity and to bring certainty,” he said. “Without all of these things we cannot ramp up the supply needed, and I’m determined and ambitious to get this right.”
Inside the Dáil, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald claimed the Government is “screwing renters” and “doing it brazenly”, as Taoiseach Micheál Martin insisted the new plans for tenants are “balanced”.
There were heated exchanges and repeated heckling during Leaders’ Questions on Tuesday, as Opposition party leaders focused on the proposed resetting of market rents after six years.
Mr Martin insisted, however, that existing tenants will not face rent increases beyond 2 per cent, while RPZs will be extended across the State. He said the fundamental objective was policy certainty for renters and increased supply.
Ms McDonald claimed the Government’s “first major action in housing is to enable big landlords to hike up extortionate rents even further”.
But the Taoiseach accused her of hypocrisy. She claimed the Government is only interested in institutional investors “but your spokesperson has been meeting them on an ongoing basis”, he said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik claimed Mr Martin had “flip-flopped” on rental policy and the plan is “hollowing out rental protection zones”.
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan said the proposals would “effectively abolish rent regulation” by allowing “rental increases across the board” every six years.
