Smaller and larger landlords: why it decides your rights

Since 1 March 2026 the Residential Tenancies Act divides landlords into two kinds. A smaller landlord is an individual with three or fewer tenancies. A larger landlord has four or more tenancies, or is a company of any size. For a tenancy that began on or after 1 March 2026 the division decides which grounds the landlord may use to end it. A larger landlord cannot end such a tenancy to sell, to move family in, to refurbish or to change its use.

For a tenancy that began before 1 March 2026 the division makes no difference at all. The eight old grounds are open to any landlord, however many properties they own. The tenancy timeline confirms which side of that date you are on.

Size is counted on the day the notice is served, and you are entitled to ask the RTB in writing whether your landlord had three or fewer tenancies on that day. The letter that asks is below and in the letter builder. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.

The definitions

The Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 sets the line at three. An individual with one, two or three tenancies is a smaller landlord. An individual with four or more is a larger landlord. A company is a larger landlord whatever the number, even with a single tenancy.

A tenancy is counted, not a building. A house divided into four flats, each let separately, gives the owner four tenancies and makes them a larger landlord. A single house let to one household is one tenancy, however many people live in it.

The count is taken on the day the notice of termination is served. A landlord who had five tenancies last year and has three today is a smaller landlord today. A landlord who buys a fourth property next month becomes a larger landlord from then on, for any notice served after that. The RTB's register is the record the count comes from.

Why it decides the grounds

For a tenancy that began on or after 1 March 2026, the grounds divide as follows.

The first five rows are open to every landlord. The rest are open only to a smaller landlord, and the last four only at the end of a six-year cycle. Tenancies of minimum duration explains the cycle, and the hardship sale ground explains the narrow test for a sale during one.

A larger landlord who wants to sell may do so with you in place. The buyer takes over the tenancy and the rest of the cycle, and the buyer's own size decides the grounds from the day any later notice is served. A larger landlord who serves a sale notice on a 2026 tenancy has used a ground the Act does not give them, and the notice may be invalid.

When size does not matter

Size changes the grounds and nothing else. The notice periods are the same for both. They are 90 days under six months, 152 days from six months to a year, and 180 days from one to seven years. Then 196 days from seven to eight years, and 224 days after eight. The breach, arrears and anti-social grounds carry the same 28, 28 and 7 days for both. The rent cap, the deposit cap, the minimum standards and the registration duty are the same for both.

Size does not matter for a tenancy that began before 1 March 2026. A company that owns a home let in 2021 may still serve a sale notice on it, and a landlord with one property may still do so without any hardship test. Tenancies that began before 1 March 2026 covers that position.

Size does not matter in the first six months of any tenancy, when any landlord may serve a notice without a ground, with a reason stated and 90 days' notice.

How to find out which you have

Three sources, in order of effort. Ask the landlord in writing how many tenancies they have and whether they are a company. The letter builder has a confirm-in-writing request; a reply in writing is evidence, and silence is worth noting too.

Read the notice. Since 1 March 2026 a smaller landlord's statutory declaration must state that they are not a company and have no more than three tenancies. That applies where the ground is family occupation, a sale, refurbishment or change of use. A notice on one of those grounds without that statement may be invalid on its face. A declaration is a sworn statement; a false one is a serious matter for the landlord, and the RTB can award damages where a ground was not genuine.

Write to the RTB. The Act lets a tenant who has received a notice ask the RTB in writing whether the landlord had three or fewer tenancies on the day it was served. The request goes with proof of identity and a copy of the notice. The RTB's page on the 2026 changes gives the address to write to. The address in use when this guide was checked was landlordsize@rtb.ie, but the page has shown more than one, so check it before you send. The RTB answers the yes-or-no question; it does not list the landlord's properties.

The letter to the RTB

Fill in the brackets, attach a copy of the notice and a copy of your passport or driving licence, and keep a copy of everything. The letter reads:

To: The Residential Tenancies Board (landlordsize@rtb.ie)
From: [your name]
Tenancy address: [the address of the dwelling]

Request under the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026: confirmation of landlord size.

I am the tenant of the dwelling above. On [the date the notice was served] I received a notice of termination from my landlord, [the landlord's name]. A copy of the notice is attached, with proof of my identity.

Please confirm in writing whether, on the date the notice was served, this landlord had three or fewer tenancies registered with the Board, and whether the landlord is a company.

I need this to know which grounds for termination were open to the landlord and whether the notice is open to challenge.

Yours faithfully,
[your name]

Send it from the email address you use for the tenancy. The letter builder produces the same letter with your details filled in and a date on it. Nothing is sent from this site; you send it yourself.

What to do with the answer

Do not wait for the reply before you act on the notice. The 90 days to refer a notice to the RTB run from the date of service, not from the day the RTB answers you. Put the dates into the notice checker the day the notice arrives, and ring Threshold on 1800 454 454, Monday to Friday 9am to 9pm, with the notice in front of you.

If the RTB confirms the landlord is larger and the ground is a sale, family occupation, refurbishment or change of use, the ground was not open to them. Refer the notice to the RTB within the 90 days; the dispute is the only way the notice can be found invalid. How to make an RTB dispute application covers the form.

If the RTB confirms the landlord is smaller, the question becomes whether the ground was open during a cycle or only at the end of one, and whether the declaration says what the Act requires. The notice checker asks for those answers.

Keep paying rent and do not move out while any of this runs. An invalid notice does not end the tenancy, and arrears would hand the landlord a ground they did not have.

Where this leaves you

For a tenancy that began on or after 1 March 2026, a smaller landlord is an individual with three or fewer tenancies and a larger landlord is anyone with four or more, or any company. The line decides whether a sale, family occupation, refurbishment or change of use is open to the landlord at all. Size is counted on the day the notice is served, and the RTB will confirm it in writing on request. The notice periods, the rent cap and everything else are the same for both. Send the letter, run the notice through the notice checker, keep paying rent, and ring Threshold on 1800 454 454 before the 90 days run.