Chapter 2 of 10 · Rent · 5 of 8
Rent pressure zones: what they were and what replaced them
RPZs ended on 28 February 2026. What the national cap is, why 'is my town an RPZ' no longer matters, and the one transitional rule that does.
Checked 27 OCT 2026 · 4 sourcesWritten in plain English for the person paying the rent. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
Is your town a Rent Pressure Zone? No town is. Rent Pressure Zones ended on 28 February 2026, and since 1 March 2026 one national cap applies to every tenancy in the State. Whether you rent in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Drogheda, Athlone, Letterkenny or a townland that never had a zone, the rule is the same. Once in any 12 months, by no more than 2% or the annual change in the CPI, whichever is lower, and never above market rent.
That is the whole answer to the search. The map, the lookup by Eircode and the list of local electoral areas are history. What is left is one rule, one transitional provision that touches the areas designated last, and the RTB's calculator. The rent increase checker applies the national rule to your rent and your dates.
What a Rent Pressure Zone was
Rent Pressure Zones began in December 2016. The Minister designated an area, on the RTB's figures, where rents were high and rising fast, and inside it rent increases were capped. The cap started at 4% a year and became the lower of 2% or inflation in 2021. Outside a zone there was no cap at all: the rent could be reviewed to market every 24 months.
Designation went area by area. Dublin and Cork city came first, then more local electoral areas in waves, with the last designations in 2025. That is why "is my town a rent pressure zone" was a real question for nine years. The answer changed the most a landlord could ask, and it changed by street.
The system had a built-in problem. A tenant on one side of a boundary had a cap and a tenant on the other side had none, and designations lagged the rises they were meant to stop. The 2026 Act ended the zones and put the cap everywhere.
What replaced them
Since 1 March 2026 Part 3 of the Residential Tenancies Act, as amended by the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026, sets one rule for the whole State.
| In a zone, to 28 February 2026 | Outside a zone, to 28 February 2026 | Everywhere, from 1 March 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How often | Once in 12 months | Once in 24 months | Once in 12 months |
| How much | 2% or HICP, whichever lower | To market rent | 2% or CPI, whichever lower |
| Ceiling | Market rent | Market rent | Market rent |
| Notice | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days, prescribed form, RTB copy within 7 days |
Three things changed for a tenant who was outside a zone. The rent is now capped where it was not. A review can now come every 12 months rather than every 24. And the landlord must send the RTB a copy of every review notice, with the calculator printout and three comparables, which was already the rule inside the zones. Rent increase rules from 1 March 2026 is the full rule.
For a tenant who was inside a zone the figure is much as before, with the index changed from the HICP to the CPI. The transition is the one thing to check.
The one transitional rule that still matters
Section 20B carries one piece of the zones forward. Where your area became a Rent Pressure Zone within the two years before your rent was last set, the first review cannot take place until 24 months after that date, not 12.
The rule preserves a gap that had already begun under the old system. It only touches tenancies whose rent was last set in an area designated late, and each such period runs out on its own two-year anniversary. By early 2028 it will have no work left to do.
If you think it applies to you, look at two dates: the date your rent was last set, and the date your area was designated. The rent increase checker asks for both and tells you which period applies. If the dates are close, Threshold on 1800 454 454 can check the designation history for your area.
The RPZ calculator and the RPZ map
The RTB's rent calculator still exists and is still the official figure. It no longer asks whether you are in a zone; it applies the national rule to the rent and the dates you enter. Keep its printout: the landlord must attach one to the review notice, and you should have your own.
The RPZ map and the Eircode lookup are gone because there is nothing to look up. If a page tells you that your town is or is not in a zone, it is out of date. Our county pages carry the RTB's rent figures for each county and say the same thing in one line.
The exemptions that went with the zones
The zone exemptions were written for the zones. What the Act now carries is narrower. A newly built apartment or new student accommodation whose commencement notice was lodged on or after 10 June 2025 may rise with CPI alone, with no 2% ceiling. A home not let for two years, or one year for a protected structure, may be let at market rent. And for tenancies that began on or after 1 March 2026 the rent may be reset to market at the end of a six-year cycle, or at a new tenancy after a tenant-led ending.
Each of those has its own guide: the CPI-only rule and when rent can be reset to market. A landlord who claims an exemption should be able to say which one, in writing.
If a notice cites the zones
A review notice served from 1 March 2026 that works out the increase under the RPZ rules is using the wrong law, though the figure may happen to be the same. Check it against the national cap and keep paying the current rent. If the figure is over the cap, refer a dispute to the RTB at least 28 days before the new rent would start. Challenging a rent increase sets out the steps.
Where this leaves you
There are no Rent Pressure Zones. Since 1 March 2026 every tenancy in the State has the same cap: once in 12 months, 2% or CPI, whichever is lower, never above market. The only piece of the zones that still bites is the 24-month wait for areas designated within two years of the rent being last set. Run your dates through the checker, keep the RTB calculator printout, and ring Threshold if the notice does not add up.
Questions people ask
Are rent pressure zones gone?
Yes. Rent Pressure Zones ended on 28 February 2026. Since 1 March 2026 the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 applies one cap to every tenancy in the State, once in any 12 months, by no more than 2% or the annual change in the CPI, whichever is lower, and never above market rent.
Is Dublin a rent pressure zone?
Not any more. No part of Dublin, or of any other county, has been a Rent Pressure Zone since 28 February 2026. A Dublin tenancy is under the same national cap as every other tenancy in the State. The county page for Dublin carries the RTB's rent figures for the county.
Is Cork, Galway or Limerick a rent pressure zone?
No. There are no Rent Pressure Zones anywhere in Ireland. Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and every other town and county are under the national cap of 2% or CPI, whichever is lower, since 1 March 2026. The old zone boundaries have no effect on your rent.
Can my landlord raise the rent now that the zones are gone?
Only within the national cap. The end of the zones did not free rents; it put the cap everywhere. A landlord may review the rent once in any 12 months, by no more than 2% or the annual CPI change, whichever is lower, with at least 90 days' notice in the prescribed form. A larger rise is over the cap and can be disputed at the RTB.
Is there still an RPZ calculator?
The RTB's rent calculator still exists and is the official figure, but it no longer asks whether you are in a zone. It applies the national rule to the rent and dates you enter. The landlord must attach its printout to any rent review notice, and you can run the same dates yourself.