New renting regulations bring major reforms across the UK and Ireland

New laws designed to shift the balance of power away from landlords towards tenants are being simultaneously introduced across these islands.

In step with the private rented sector in the UK, the PRS in the Irish Republic recently shifted towards more regulation. 

From largely unregulated tenures in Ireland, which housed a large proportion of the population in the early part of the 20th century, to a declining sector by the 1990s (7 per cent of households). This occurred as more regulations were applied. As with the UK, the letting market in Ireland had since rebounded to a major housing provider (approx. 20 per cent) by 2016.

The resurgence was driven by tax incentives, a decline in social housing provision, and rising tenant demand, but the Irish private rented sector has since moved from a "free market" approach to considerably increased regulation. 

With the advent of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 the sector was governed by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), with enhanced tenant rights. This included Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) - a euphemism for rent control - alongside growing reliance on private landlords to meet social housing needs, through schemes like HAP. Ireland has now gone a step further.

Housing support

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is an Irish social housing support system for those with long-term housing needs who are on a local authority housing list. Under the HAP scheme, Irish local authorities pay rent directly to private landlords, while tenants pay a weekly, income-based contribution to the council. It enables recipients to work full-time while receiving support.

As of 2026, the sector is a critical, high-cost component of the housing system, especially in urban areas like Dublin. It is serving around one in five households. This market is characterised by high demand, with severe supply shortages, and ongoing debates over tenant protections.

As of 2026 the Irish private rented sector (PRS) is said to be in a severe, long-term crisis (Housing Rights). This is defined by record-high rents, acute supply shortages, and increasing institutional ownership. Nearly 20 per cent of Irish households are now renting, with average renters spending 37 per cent of their net income on housing.

Regulatory reform 

The Irish PRS faces intense regulatory pressure put on landlords. It’s leading to many smaller landlords exiting – sound familiar? New legislation has brought tough new regulations with the stated aim of “boosting supply through new investment”. 

Two Acts, similar outcomes

Like the Renter’s Rights Act in England, and other similar measures throughout the UK, - Scotland and Wales – regulations giving tenants greater protections are being introduced. This has culminated in the Irish Cabinet approving the Residential Tenancies Bill in February and the UK parliament approving the Renters’ Rights Bill in England last October.

Both bills heralded a major shake up of the renting regulations in both countries. The bulk of the measures in the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) became effective 1 May 2026 in England, and from 1 March 2026, the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 (RTA) became law, introducing major reforms in Ireland.

New tenancy types and rent control

While in England the RRD brought in continuous tenancy and the end of the Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) along with Section 21. In Ireland the RTA includes 6-year "Tenancies of Minimum Duration" for new tenancies, capping of annual rent increases at 2 per cent or the inflation rate (rent control), and restricting landlords' ability to terminate tenancies.

The Irish changes represent a major shake-up of the renting rules and will impact thousands of tenants and landlords. Unlike the English changes, which affect all existing ASTs, the Irish ones only apply to new tenancies created on or after March 1, they don’t change the rules for existing tenancies.

Stronger tenant protections

Similar to the English RRA, the new Irish reforms include stronger tenant protections, they change the rules on how a landlord can end a tenancy, and they introduce a national rent control system, something that is not explicitly included in the RRA. 

However, by including “stronger protections against backdoor eviction” implemented by ensuring tenants can appeal “excessive above-market rent increases”, some experts have argued the RRA is rent control by default.

Under the new Irish rules, a tenant will get security of tenure when they have lived in the property for “6 continuous months” and their landlord has not served a valid Notice of Termination during that time. 

The Irish system is considerably different to the English case here, where there’s no probationary period: once the tenancy commences under the RRA, the landlord can only serve notice on specific “grounds” for possession. Basically if the tenant breaches the tenancy rules, for example, the tenant must be in at least 3 months’ arrears of rent before a 4 week notice can be served.  

The Irish landlord can end the tenancy at any time if a tenant breaches their obligations, or the property becomes no longer suitable for the tenant’s needs, the latter a provision that seems absent from the RRA.

A six-year cycle tenancy

The six-year cycle of the Irish tenancy allows for a tenancy to be ended if a close family member needs to live in the property, or when the landlord needs to sell to avoid undue financial or other hardship. Also, the tenancy can only be ended after the six years’ cycle terminates if the landlord wishes to sell the property, to substantially refurbish it, renovate it or change its use.

These measures are similar to those in the RRA, except there is no such thing as a six-year cycle. The English tenancy is a continuous one, and can only be terminated on specific grounds after a period of 12 months or for a breach of the statutory rules / breach of contract.

Rent control

The rent control measures in the Irish legislation introduce a new national system of rent control which applies to all private tenancies as well as student accommodation. There are no such explicit rent control measures in the RRA. 

With the new rent control system in Ireland, rent can only be increased once per year by 2 per cent or by inflation if it is lower. The rate of inflation will be measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which of course is a different CPI measure than that used in England.

Whereas the English system allows rents to be set at market levels, both at the commencement of a tenancy and by 12 monthly increases, resetting to market rent for private tenancies in Ireland - created after 1 March 2026 - is only allowed when a new tenancy starts or at the end of the six-year tenancy cycle.

The only way landlords can reset property rents in Ireland to market levels is by tenants leaving of their own free will, if a tenant has breached their contract, or if the dwelling is no longer suitable for the tenant’s occupation.

When can tenants leave?

Under the Renters' Rights Act in England, tenants can leave at any time after the tenancy commences by giving 2 months' notice (ending on a rent day) on their continuous (rolling) tenancy. In contrast, the new Irish tenancy laws base this on a graduated notice period, ranging from 4 weeks for under six months’ occupancy, to 8 weeks after 2 years. 

However, rent control in the Irish system has exceptions for new apartments and student accommodation when construction commenced after June 10, 2025. Presumably, this provision is to appease build-to-rent companies - housing provision that governments want to encourage - and social housing provision is also exempt.  

Resetting to market rents for student only accommodation is allowed in the Irish system only once every three years, starting on March 1, 2029, whereas there’s no such restriction in the RRA. Also, the Residential Tenancies Act in Ireland says that landlords must give their tenants a “rent setting notice” containing three examples from the RTB Rent Register, at the commencement of the tenancy. Also, a statement that the new rent is not above market rent – this notice explains exactly how the rent was set. 

Again, in a similar vein to the English RRA, if the tenant disputes a rent increase, they can stop the rent rise until the dispute case ends.

Under England's RRA, tenants can challenge rent increases once a year via a free First-tier Tribunal, which has the power to cap rents at market rates. There are no longer any fixed-term escalation clauses allowed in contracts. Similarly, the new Irish laws, after 1 March 2026, will restrict rent increases, often with tighter, Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) dispute processes which can order a landlord to repay any overpaid rent and award damages of up to €20,000.

What is a market rent?

The market rent is, according to the English Renters’ Rights Act and the Irish Residential Tenancies Act is defined as the current, open-market rate for similar local properties, ensuring rent increases align with prevailing, arms-length market conditions rather than arbitrary hikes. Both jurisdictions permit adjustments to market rates as described above, subject to dispute mechanisms, the First-tier Tribunal in England or the RTB in Ireland.  

Why are private tenancy laws being tightened, despite the lack of rental accommodation?

Governments in the UK and the Irish Republic are tightening rental laws, such as banning "no-fault" evictions and capping rent increases, despite these measures discouraging many private landlords. Why?

The answer from the authorities concerned: to improve tenant security, raise housing standards, and manage cost-of-living pressures on tenants. They are doing this despite the risk of discouraging landlords and reducing supply. These policies prioritise long-term residential stability over the immediate market supply issues in the face of increasing rents with reduced supply.

These are the key reasons behind the policy changes

Governments are cognisant of a large and growing demographic of voters who rent. As landlords have taken over the role of providing more accommodation from social housing, more tenants with families are renting, and for longer periods. Many are now excluded from homeownership due to the rise in house prices.

In England the Section 21 “no fault” eviction has received a lot of attention in the media and was perceived by many as an unfair system. Political pressure was building and laws are shifting to provide more security of tenure. More “stability” as the new laws state, such as a banning order for the Section 21 "no-fault" evictions. They ban fixed term tenancies in England, moving towards continuous, or in the case of Ireland, six-year tenancies. 

At the same time as tightening tenant security, regulations are being brought in, with substantial penalties for defaults, which are designed to make rental properties safer. There is no doubt that there is an underworld of substandard rental housing provision in most of these jurisdictions.

On the affordability front, controls are being introduced, whether explicit rent control or controls by other means, to address the high costs that tenants are facing.  

What is the impact on rental markets?

A landlord exodus has been a constant theme. An increasingly tough regulations regime, coupled with higher landlord costs, higher interest rates and reduced profits through high taxation has discouraged many small-scale landlords. These are landlords with a small number of properties, plus the so called "accidental" landlords; they are getting out of the market.

Particularly in Ireland, there is evidence that the private rented sector is shifting away from small-scale individual landlords towards large-scale institutional investors – the build-to-rent developers as they are called in England.

There is no doubt, all the evidence shows that a supply shortage is the result of the regulations trend, despite the intended benefits for tenants. The reforms are accelerating the supply shortage in the short-term. 

The rate at which small-scale landlords across the piece have been selling up has exceeded the rate of new investment. The resulting shortage is not being countered in the short-term by the provision by large-scale build-to-rent developers.

While supply side critics have long argued that these stability measures exacerbate a rental shortage and steep rent increases, nevertheless governments remain intent on transforming the private rented sector.

[Main image shows a street in Dublin, Republic of Ireland - credit Lukas Kloeppel]