Ireland
Renting & Tenant Rights
Last verified August 7, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
Deposit Rules
- The deposit is capped at 1 month's rent, and must be returned at the end of the tenancy unless there's damage beyond normal wear and tear, unpaid rent, or you left before a fixed term ended.
- Disputes over deposits (and most other tenancy issues) go through the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), which offers free dispute resolution.
Rent Increases & Notice
- As of March 1, 2026, Ireland replaced its old 'Rent Pressure Zone' patchwork with a single national rent control system covering all private tenancies. Increases are capped at 2% or the rate of CPI inflation, whichever is lower.
- A landlord must give at least 90 days' written notice of a rent increase, stating the new rent, effective date, and how it was calculated.
- As of March 2026, ending a tenancy requires 90 to 224 days' notice (scaling with how long you've lived there) and a specific legal reason. A landlord can no longer simply decline to renew without cause.
The Gotcha
Ireland's rent control system changed nationally in March 2026. The old 'Rent Pressure Zone' system, which only capped increases in specific designated areas, is gone, replaced by a single 2%-or-CPI cap covering every private tenancy in the country. If you're reading pre-2026 material about Irish renting, the geographic patchwork it describes no longer exists.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change, so check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- Rent Pressure Zones (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Ireland)
- A Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act (Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), Ireland)