The Government announced significant proposed changes to the
Irish residential rent control system on 10 June 2025. These
changes are intended to increase the supply of rental accommodation
and attract crucial investment. Legislation will be required to
implement these changes and is expected in the coming months. The
new changes will take effect from 1 March 2026.
These changes follow a period of intense scrutiny by the
Government of the current Rent Pressure Zone
(“RPZ”) system amidst recognition that
the current rules have had an unintended negative impact on
investment and housing supply. Introduced in 2016 as a temporary
measure, a RPZ is a designated area where annual rent increases are
currently capped in line with the rate of inflation as recorded by
the Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP) or 2%, whichever
is the lower.
