Chapter 4 of 10 · Security of tenure · 6 of 7
Tenancies that began before 1 March 2026: what still applies
The old grounds still apply to older tenancies, landlord size does not matter, and the rent can never be reset to market while the tenancy lasts.
Checked 27 OCT 2026 · 4 sourcesWritten in plain English for the person paying the rent. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
If your tenancy began before 1 March 2026 the new security-of-tenure rules do not apply to you. There is no Tenancy of Minimum Duration, the landlord's size does not matter, and the eight old grounds for ending a tenancy are open to any landlord. The rent can never be reset to market for as long as the tenancy lasts. Most of the 241,072 private tenancies the RTB counted in its figures of 3 September 2026 began before that date, so this is the position for most renters.
What did change for you on 1 March 2026 is a shorter list. A reason must be stated on every notice. You have 90 days, not 28, to refer a notice to the RTB. The rent cap of 2% or the CPI applies across the State, not only in the former Rent Pressure Zones. Since 14 September 2026 a copy of every notice must reach the RTB within 7 days, and RTB adjudication hearings are public.
The tenancy timeline takes your start date and shows which rules you are under and the dates that matter. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland only.
Two kinds of older tenancy
The date your tenancy began splits older tenancies in two. The split is 11 June 2022, the day the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2021 commenced.
| Began before 11 June 2022 | Began 11 June 2022 to 28 February 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Security after six months | A Part 4 tenancy in six-year cycles | A tenancy of unlimited duration |
| Cycles | Six years each; a Further Part 4 tenancy begins if no valid notice | None |
| Ending without a ground | Allowed at the end of each cycle, with a valid notice and the full period | Never |
| Grounds at any other time | The eight old grounds, any landlord | The eight old grounds, any landlord |
| Rent reset to market | Never while the tenancy lasts | Never while the tenancy lasts |
A tenancy that began before 11 June 2022 still has its cycle ends. If it began in 2020, the first six-year cycle ends in 2026 and the landlord may serve a notice without a ground around that point, with the full notice period. If it began in 2017, the first cycle ended in 2023 and a Further Part 4 tenancy has been running since. Part 4 tenancies and the six-month rule explains the cycles.
A tenancy that began between 11 June 2022 and 28 February 2026 has no cycles at all. Six months, ten years, twenty years: the landlord's position does not change. That is the strongest form of security the Act has given, and the 2026 Act did not take it away.
The grounds that still apply
For an older tenancy the landlord may end it on any of eight grounds, listed in the Table to section 34, and it makes no difference whether the landlord owns one property or a hundred.
A breach of your obligations, after a written warning, with 28 days' notice. Rent arrears, after a 28-day warning notice, with a further 28 days. Serious anti-social behaviour, with 7 days and no warning. The dwelling no longer suiting the needs of the household. The landlord intends to sell within nine months. The landlord or a family member needs to live in it. Substantial refurbishment, with the home vacant for at least three weeks and offered back to you afterwards. And a change of use.
The last four need a statutory declaration attached to the notice. The notice itself must meet section 62. That means in writing, signed and dated, with the date of service, the termination date and the reason. It must say you may refer a dispute to the RTB, and a copy must reach the RTB within 7 days. Notice of termination: what a valid notice must contain goes through each item.
The notice periods have not changed and are the same as for 2026 tenancies. 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 termination date gives you the whole of that day.
What the March 2026 changes did do for you
The Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 changed six things for every tenancy, whenever it began.
Every notice of termination served on or after 1 March 2026 must state a reason. That includes a notice served in the first six months, which still needs no ground. A notice with no reason on it may be invalid.
The time to refer a notice to the RTB is 90 days from the date of service, up from 28. A notice that cites a breach of your obligations keeps the 28-day window. The notice must tell you how many days you have.
The rent cap is national. Before 1 March 2026 the 2% cap applied only inside a Rent Pressure Zone, and a tenancy outside one could see a rise to market rent at a review. Since then every tenancy in the State is under one rule. A review once in any 12 months, a rise of no more than 2% or the annual change in the CPI, whichever is lower, and never above market rent. Rent Pressure Zones: what they were and what replaced them covers the change.
Where the landlord intends to sell within nine months, you must give agreed access for viewings at reasonable intervals, under a new section 16(ca). That is access by arrangement, never unannounced entry, and it applies even where the sale is with you in place.
Since 14 September 2026, under the second 2026 Act, a copy of every notice of termination must reach the RTB within 7 days of service, or the notice fails under the Act. Between 1 March and 13 September 2026 the copy had to go the same day.
Since the same date, RTB adjudication hearings on applications made from then on are public, and the published report names both parties and the address. Mediation is still free and private.
What the March 2026 changes did not do for you
They did not create a six-year cycle in your tenancy, and they did not give your landlord a point at which the rent can be reset to market. They did not make landlord size relevant: a company that owns your home may still serve a sale notice, and an individual with one property may still serve one without any hardship test. The hardship sale ground, the close-family list and the bar on no-fault notices by larger landlords all belong to tenancies that began on or after 1 March 2026.
They did not end the no-reason termination at a cycle end for a tenancy that began before 11 June 2022. If that is your tenancy, the tenancy timeline shows the date the current cycle ends.
They did not bring in an eviction ban. A Private Member's Bill to pause no-fault notices is at Second Stage and is not law. There is also no Irish "Renters' Rights Act"; that is the name of an English Act. What changed tracks both.
The rent in an older tenancy
Your rent can go up, but only within the cap, and it can never be reset to market while the tenancy lasts. A review needs 90 days' notice in the prescribed form, with the RTB calculator printout and three comparable tenancies from the Rent Register begun within the last three months. A copy must reach the RTB within 7 days. You may refer a review to the RTB within 28 days before the new rent starts, and the review is paused while the dispute runs.
If the rent has not been reviewed in years, the landlord can still only move it by 2% or the CPI at the next review; there is no catching up. A dwelling that stands empty for two years may be let at market rent, but that is a new tenancy after yours has ended, not a change to yours. The rent increase checker tests a review notice against each rule.
Will the tenancy ever move onto the 2026 rules
Only if it ends and a new one begins. The rules are fixed by the date the tenancy began, and the following do not change that date. Signing a new lease for the same home with the same landlord continues the tenancy. A rent review continues it. The landlord selling with you in place continues it, with the buyer taking over as landlord on the same terms. The death of the landlord, or the appointment of a receiver, continues it; when the landlord dies, a receiver is appointed or the bank repossesses explains who you then deal with.
Moving to a different home is a new tenancy and the 2026 rules apply from the first day. So is leaving and coming back to the same home after a gap. A landlord cannot end your tenancy to move you onto the new rules; the ending itself needs one of the eight grounds, a valid notice and the full period.
Where this leaves you
If your tenancy began before 1 March 2026 you keep the older, stronger security. The eight grounds, open to any landlord, are the only way it can be ended, and if it began before 11 June 2022 there is also the cycle end. The rent can rise only within the 2% or CPI cap and is never reset to market while the tenancy lasts. What the 2026 Acts gave you is a reason on every notice, 90 days to dispute it, the national cap and the 7-day copy to the RTB. Put your start date into the tenancy timeline to see the dates, and if a notice arrives, keep paying rent, do not move out, and ring Threshold on 1800 454 454.
Questions people ask
My tenancy began in 2023. Does the six-year cycle apply to me?
No. A tenancy that began between 11 June 2022 and 28 February 2026 is a tenancy of unlimited duration. It has no cycles, no cycle end and no point at which the rent can be reset to market. The landlord needs one of the eight old grounds to end it, at any time, and landlord size does not matter.
Can my landlord reset my rent to market now that the rules changed?
Not while your tenancy lasts, if it began before 1 March 2026. The only rise allowed is a review once in any 12 months of no more than 2% or the annual change in the CPI, whichever is lower, and never above market rent. The six-year reset belongs to tenancies that began on or after 1 March 2026.
Does landlord size matter for an older tenancy?
No. The smaller and larger landlord rules apply only to tenancies that began on or after 1 March 2026. For an older tenancy any landlord, an individual with one property or a company with a hundred, may use any of the eight grounds, including a sale and family occupation.
Do I get 90 days to dispute a notice on an older tenancy?
Yes. The 90-day window applies to every notice served on or after 1 March 2026, whenever the tenancy began. A notice that cites a breach of your obligations keeps the 28-day window. The notice itself must tell you how many days you have.
Will my older tenancy ever move onto the 2026 rules?
Only if it ends and a new tenancy begins. Signing a new lease for the same home with the same landlord does not do that; the tenancy continues under the rules fixed by its original start date. If the landlord sells with you in place, the tenancy continues under the same rules with the buyer. If you move to a different home, that is a new tenancy under the 2026 rules.