Ireland’s rental market has entered a new phase in 2026, with rents for newly created tenancies rising much faster than rents paid by existing tenants.
The latest RTB/ESRI Rent Index shows the scale of the difference. The standardised average rent for a new tenancy reached €1,839 per month in Q1 2026, an annual increase of 9.1%. For existing tenancies, the average was €1,513, up 4.2% over the same period.
That left a difference of €326 a month between the average rent recorded for new and existing tenancies.
The figures do not mean every new tenant pays €1,839 or that every long-term tenant pays €1,513. They are national standardised averages. But they show an important feature of Ireland’s rental market: the cost of entering or re-entering the market is rising considerably faster than the cost facing many people who have remained in their homes.
New tenants are facing the sharpest rent increases
The distinction between new and existing tenancies is central to understanding Ireland’s rental pressure.
The RTB/ESRI Rent Index uses tenancy-registration data to measure rents associated with registered private tenancies. It produces separate measures for new and existing tenancies and standardises the results to account for differences in the characteristics of properties included in the data.
In Q1 2026, the new-tenancy figure rose 9.1% year on year, compared with 4.2% for existing tenancies.
The gap was therefore not simply a difference in the level of rent. Rental inflation was also moving at a much faster pace for people entering new tenancies.
This matters because a tenant who has remained in the same home may be insulated from some of the pressures visible in the wider market. Someone who has to move, however, has to compete for properties that are becoming available at current market conditions.
That can make moving home particularly expensive.
A household leaving a long-term tenancy because of a landlord’s sale, a valid Notice of Termination, a change in family circumstances or another reason may suddenly face a rental market that bears little resemblance to the rent it had previously been paying.
The RTB has recorded this difference for several years, but the scale of the gap became particularly pronounced in the latest Q1 2026 figures.
Why the RTB/ESRI figures matter
Rental figures can vary considerably depending on what they are designed to measure.
Property websites generally show asking rents — the amount being sought for homes currently advertised.
The RTB/ESRI Rent Index is different. It is based on tenancy-registration information held by the RTB and independently analysed by the ESRI.
That means the index provides evidence on rents associated with registered tenancies rather than simply asking prices on advertisements.
The Q1 2026 index used 13,019 new tenancies and 46,510 existing tenancies in its respective samples.
The standardisation process is also important. Rental properties are not identical. They differ in location, size, type, number of bedrooms and other characteristics. If one quarter contains more expensive properties than another, a simple average could rise partly because of the composition of the properties being measured.
The RTB/ESRI methodology adjusts for those differences to produce a standardised average.
That does not make the index a measure of every property available to rent. It does, however, make it a particularly useful measure for tracking rental-price movements across registered private tenancies.
M10News has previously explained how the RTB/ESRI Rent Index measures Ireland’s rental market.
The rental market changed with the March 2026 reforms
The latest rent figures also arrived during a major change in Irish rental law.
From 1 March 2026, Ireland introduced a national rent-control system for private tenancies and Student Specific Accommodation.
For most private tenancies, rent can generally be increased once every 12 months by 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
But the rules around setting rent for a new tenancy are different.
For private tenancies created from 1 March 2026, a landlord can reset the rent to market rent in specified circumstances when a new tenancy begins.
A market-rent reset can also occur at the end of a six-year Tenancy of Minimum Duration, subject to the rules applying to that tenancy.
There are important exceptions.
For example, a new tenancy cannot generally be reset to market rent following a qualifying no-fault termination where the previous tenancy ended because the landlord wanted to sell, use the property for themselves or a family member, substantially renovate it or change its use, subject to the specific rules and circumstances.
Existing private tenancies that began before 1 March 2026 cannot simply have their rent reset to market rent while the tenancy continues.
These distinctions are important because the rent paid by an existing tenant and the rent that can be established for a new tenancy are not necessarily governed by the same rules.
Did the new rental rules cause rents to rise?
The timing is significant, but the evidence does not support a simple conclusion that the March reforms caused the entire 9.1% increase.
The RTB said the sharp increase in new-tenancy rental inflation in Q1 2026 coincided with the introduction of the new rent-setting rules.
ESRI researcher Rachel Slaymaker said it was too early to establish how much of the increase reflected an initial adjustment to the new rules and how much represented a more sustained change in rental-market conditions.
That distinction matters.
Some landlords had been unable to reset rents to prevailing market levels under the previous rules. The new framework changed the circumstances in which a market-rent reset could occur for new tenancies.
At the same time, Ireland’s rental market was already operating under significant supply and affordability pressure.
It would therefore be misleading to attribute the entire movement in rents to one policy change without more evidence.
Supply remains central to rental pressure
Rent levels cannot be separated from the availability of homes.
The number of registered private tenancies reached 241,072 in Q2 2026, up 1.5% from a year earlier. But the RTB said the figure was largely static compared with the previous quarter.
That matters because a rental market can remain under pressure even when the number of registered tenancies is increasing if the growth in available homes is not keeping pace with household demand.
The type of supply also matters.
A new apartment in a high-demand urban area can provide a different solution to housing need than a house in a location where there are fewer employment opportunities or weaker public transport connections.
Likewise, a household looking for a two-bedroom home cannot necessarily substitute a one-bedroom property simply because it is cheaper.
The rental market is therefore influenced by more than the total number of dwellings. Location, size, tenure, affordability and suitability all affect whether additional housing actually gives renters more choice.
Notices of Termination remain an important part of the picture
Rental pressure is not only about the rent a household pays. It is also about whether the household can remain in its home.
The RTB received 4,031 Notices of Termination in Q2 2026, a 42.9% decline from Q1 and 14.7% below the level recorded in Q2 2025.
More than half — 2,023 notices, or 50.2% — were issued because the landlord intended to sell the property.
The fall in notices during Q2 provides some evidence that the unusually high level recorded earlier in 2026 was easing.
But the figures also show why rental security and affordability cannot be considered separately.
A tenant who receives a valid Notice of Termination has to find another home in the same market that is producing higher rents for new tenancies.
The financial impact can therefore extend well beyond the rent paid in the previous property.
A household may have to find a higher monthly rent, pay a new deposit and moving costs, travel further for work or school, or accept a property that is less suitable.
For people with limited savings or already-high housing costs, that transition can be difficult even where their previous rent was manageable.
Dublin is not the whole rental market
National rental figures can hide substantial differences between parts of Ireland.
Dublin remains one of the country’s most expensive rental markets, but high rents and rapid increases are not confined to the capital.
The RTB’s city-level data has consistently shown significant differences between Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
Those differences matter when interpreting national figures.
A national average of €1,839 for new tenancies does not tell a household what it will pay for a particular apartment in Dublin, a house in Limerick or a property in a smaller town.
Nor does a lower regional average automatically mean that housing is affordable.
Affordability depends on income as well as rent. A household earning substantially less in one area may experience greater housing pressure even where nominal rents are lower.
This is why rental-market analysis needs to consider both price and purchasing power.
Existing tenants are experiencing a different market
The €326 monthly difference between new and existing tenancies is one of the most significant features of the Q1 2026 data.
For an existing tenant, remaining in the same property can provide a degree of protection from the full cost of current market rents.
That does not mean existing tenants are immune from increases.
Most private rents are subject to the national annual rent-increase rules, and landlords must follow the relevant procedures when reviewing rent.
But an existing tenant may still be paying considerably less than the rent that could apply to a comparable home entering the market.
This creates a difficult situation for households that need to move.
A person may be able to afford their current home but not an equivalent property at today’s new-tenancy rent.
That can discourage people from moving for work, family reasons or better housing conditions and can make the consequences of losing a tenancy more severe.
Cost rental and AHB housing are expanding
The private rental market is not the only part of Ireland’s rented housing system.
The RTB recorded 6,186 cost-rental tenancies in Q2 2026, an increase of 82.5% over the previous year.
Approved Housing Body tenancies also increased, reaching 59,055, up 11.5% year on year and the highest level recorded in the RTB series.
These sectors provide alternatives to conventional private renting, although they serve different purposes and operate under different rules.
Cost rental is designed to provide homes at rents based on the cost of providing and managing the accommodation rather than simply prevailing private-market rents.
AHBs provide social housing to eligible households and work alongside local authorities in delivering accommodation.
Their growth is significant because increasing the supply of non-market and cost-based rental housing can give households alternatives to the private market.
However, the scale of these sectors remains much smaller than the overall private rental market, meaning the private sector continues to play a central role in housing renters across Ireland.
What the rental data means for tenants
The latest figures point to several different realities for renters.
For someone already securely housed, the most important figure may be the annual limit on rent increases and the rules governing their particular tenancy.
For someone looking for a new home, the €1,839 national standardised average for new tenancies is more relevant because it reflects the part of the market they are entering.
For someone facing a Notice of Termination, the difference between their existing rent and current new-tenancy rents can become a major financial issue.
And for households unable to afford private-market rents, the availability of social and cost-rental housing becomes increasingly important.
There is therefore no single “average renter” represented by the national statistics.
The same rental market can feel very different depending on whether a household is staying put, moving home, losing a tenancy, entering the market for the first time or seeking an affordable alternative.
What happens to rents from here?
The next RTB/ESRI Rent Index will be important because it will provide evidence on whether the 9.1% increase in new-tenancy rents was a temporary adjustment or the beginning of a more persistent acceleration.
The RTB has said it is monitoring rental inflation and rent-setting data following the introduction of the new rules.
From 14 September 2026, the RTB also gains new fixed-payment notice powers for certain breaches of rental law. The initial campaigns will target areas including rent-setting and tenancy-registration compliance.
That creates another reason to watch the data closely.
If new-tenancy rent growth moderates, it could suggest that some of the sharp Q1 movement was related to the initial adjustment to the new rental framework.
If it remains elevated, the evidence for broader market pressure would become stronger.
The supply side will matter just as much.
Ireland needs enough suitable rental homes in the places where people need to live. More construction can increase supply over time, but the effect on rents depends on the number and type of homes delivered, where they are built and how quickly they become available.
For renters, the central issue is not simply whether Ireland is building more homes.
It is whether a household can actually find a suitable home at a rent it can sustain.
The wider picture
Ireland’s rental market in 2026 is showing two different speeds.
Existing-tenancy rents are continuing to rise, but at a relatively moderate pace compared with the sharp increase recorded for new tenancies.
At the same time, the number of registered private tenancies remains broadly stable, Notices of Termination have fallen from their Q1 peak, and cost-rental and AHB housing continue to expand.
That makes the current market more complicated than a simple story of rents rising everywhere at the same rate.
The clearest pressure is being felt by people who need to enter or re-enter the private rental market.
The €326 monthly gap between the average new and existing tenancy rents captures that difference particularly well.
It is why rental affordability cannot be judged solely by looking at the rent paid by established tenants. The cost and availability of the next home matter just as much.
For continuing coverage of rents, tenant protections, rental regulation and housing supply, follow M10News’ Ireland housing coverage.
