Part 4 tenancies and the six-month rule

After six continuous months in a tenancy, if no valid notice of termination has been served on you, you have security of tenure under Part 4 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. From that day the landlord can end the tenancy only on a ground the Act allows, with a valid notice and the full notice period. Before the six months are up the landlord may serve a notice without a ground, with a reason written on it and at least 90 days' notice.

What Part 4 gives you depends on the date the tenancy began. Three regimes run side by side. A tenancy that began before 11 June 2022 runs in six-year cycles. A tenancy that began between 11 June 2022 and 28 February 2026 is a tenancy of unlimited duration. A tenancy that began on or after 1 March 2026 is a Tenancy of Minimum Duration, in six-year cycles, with the landlord's size deciding the grounds. The tenancy timeline takes your start date and shows the regime, the day Part 4 began and the dates still to come.

This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only. It is written for tenants under the Act: private, Approved Housing Body, cost-rental and student-specific tenancies. A licensee, such as a lodger in the owner's own home, has no Part 4 rights; licensees and lodgers explains that position.

The six-month rule

Part 4 rights arise on the day you complete six months of continuous occupation under the tenancy. The clock starts on the day the tenancy began, which is usually the day you moved in or the day the lease says it started. It does not restart when you sign a new lease for the same home with the same landlord, and it does not wait for the landlord to register the tenancy.

Only a valid notice of termination served inside those six months stops Part 4 arising. The notice must meet section 62 of the Act and give at least 90 days. It stops Part 4 even where the termination date falls after the six months have passed. A notice that fails section 62 does not count. If the six months pass without a valid one, the tenancy becomes a Part 4 tenancy on the usual terms. Notice of termination: what a valid notice must contain lists the requirements.

A fixed-term lease does not stop the clock either. If your lease is for twelve months, Part 4 rights arise at six months and continue after the lease ends. Fixed-term versus periodic tenancies covers what a fixed term does change.

The three regimes side by side

A few things are the same whichever column you are in. The notice periods are the same, from 90 days under six months to 224 days after eight years. Every notice served since 1 March 2026 must state a reason. The rent cap of 2% or the annual change in the CPI, whichever is lower, applies to every tenancy in the State. And no landlord can end any tenancy by changing the locks or cutting off a service; the only lawful route is a valid notice, then the RTB, then the courts.

The three columns matter most when a notice arrives. The ground on it has to be open to your landlord under your column, or the notice may be invalid. The notice checker asks for the start date first for that reason.

What changed in 2022

Before 11 June 2022 every Part 4 tenancy ran in cycles. The first cycle began when the tenancy did and lasted six years. At the end of the cycle, if no valid notice had been served, a Further Part 4 tenancy began and ran another six years. The landlord could end the tenancy without giving a reason at the end of each cycle. The rest of the time the landlord needed a ground.

The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 changed that for tenancies beginning on or after 11 June 2022. Those tenancies become tenancies of unlimited duration once the six months pass. There is no cycle, no cycle end and no termination without a ground. The landlord needs one of the eight grounds at any point, and any landlord can use any of them. Landlord size does not matter.

Tenancies that began before 11 June 2022 kept their cycles. If yours began in 2019, the first cycle ends in 2025 and the second in 2031. The tenancy timeline shows the date for your own tenancy.

What changed in 2026

The Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 commenced on 1 March 2026. For tenancies beginning on or after that date the Part 4 tenancy is a Tenancy of Minimum Duration, in six-year cycles, under a new section 35B. It is not a return to the old cycles. There is no termination without a ground at the end of a cycle. Instead the grounds are divided by the landlord's size.

A smaller landlord is an individual with three or fewer tenancies. During a cycle a smaller landlord may end the tenancy for a tenant breach, arrears, serious anti-social behaviour or the dwelling no longer suiting the household, as any landlord may. A smaller landlord may also end it where they or a close family member need to live in it, or for a sale needed to avoid hardship. At the end of a cycle a smaller landlord may end it for family occupation, a sale, substantial refurbishment or change of use.

A larger landlord has four or more tenancies, or is a company. A larger landlord may end a 2026 tenancy only for a breach, arrears, serious anti-social behaviour or the dwelling no longer suiting the household. A larger landlord cannot end it to sell, to move family in, to refurbish or to change its use, though they may sell at any time with you in place. Tenancies of minimum duration and smaller and larger landlords go through the detail.

The same Act made three changes for every tenancy, whenever it began. A reason must be stated on every notice, including a notice in the first six months. The time to refer a notice to the RTB rose from 28 days to 90, with 28 days kept for a breach notice. And the rent cap became national: a review once in any 12 months, and a rise of no more than 2% or the annual change in the CPI, whichever is lower. The second 2026 Act, commenced on 14 September 2026, added the rule that a copy of every notice must reach the RTB within 7 days, and made RTB adjudication hearings public.

There is no eviction ban, and there is no Irish "Renters' Rights Act"; that name belongs to English law. A Private Member's Bill to pause no-fault notices is at Second Stage and is not law. What changed tracks it.

Further Part 4 tenancies

The phrase belongs to the oldest regime. Where a tenancy began before 11 June 2022, each six-year cycle ends with a choice for the landlord. A landlord who does nothing lets a Further Part 4 tenancy begin, and it runs for another six years on the same terms. A landlord who wants the home back without a ground must serve a valid notice around the end of the cycle, with the full notice period for your length of tenancy. That is 180 days up to seven years, 196 days from seven to eight, and 224 days after eight.

The landlord does not need a ground for that notice. Since 1 March 2026 the notice must still state the reason, which can be that the cycle is ending, and every other requirement of section 62 still applies. The notice can be referred to the RTB within 90 days like any other.

A tenancy that began on or after 1 March 2026 also runs in six-year cycles. A new cycle there is not called a Further Part 4 tenancy, and the landlord has no no-reason option at the end of it. What a smaller landlord can do at a cycle end is listed above; a larger landlord's grounds do not change at all.

Tenancies that began between 11 June 2022 and 28 February 2026 have no cycles, so the phrase never applies to them.

Ending a Part 4 tenancy

You can end a Part 4 tenancy at any time by serving your own notice of termination. The period depends on how long you have been there. It is 28 days under six months, 35 days up to a year, 42 days up to two years and 56 days up to four. After that it is 84 days up to eight years and 112 days beyond. Where the landlord is in breach and has been warned in writing, it is 28 days whatever the length. Giving notice to your landlord has the letter. A fixed term may limit when you can serve that notice.

The landlord can end a Part 4 tenancy only with a valid notice on a ground open to them, and only with the full notice period. A notice that does not meet section 62, or cites a ground your landlord cannot use, may be invalid, and an invalid notice does not end the tenancy. The landlord cannot end it by asking you to leave, by refusing rent, by changing the locks or by cutting off a service. If you stay past the termination date on a valid notice you are overholding. The landlord's route then is an RTB determination and the District Court, never self-help. Overholding sets out what follows either way.

If a notice arrives, do not move out and do not stop paying rent. Run it through the notice checker, ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, and refer it to the RTB within 90 days of service if anything is wrong. The notice journey takes those steps in order.

Where this leaves you

Six months without a valid notice gives you Part 4 rights, and the date the tenancy began decides which version of them you hold. Before 11 June 2022 they run in six-year cycles with a termination without a ground allowed at each cycle end. From 11 June 2022 to 28 February 2026 they last indefinitely with no cycles. From 1 March 2026 they run in six-year cycles with the grounds set by the landlord's size. Whichever column you are in, the landlord needs a valid notice, a ground open to them and the full notice period, and you have 90 days to refer a notice to the RTB. Put your start date into the tenancy timeline first, then ring Threshold on 1800 454 454 if a notice has arrived.