Many landlords are dissatisfied with the Government’s new rent reforms because they will not get the opportunity to raise rents to prevailing market levels, according to the Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA).
The concerns come just days after the Residential Tenancies Bill was signed into law by President Catherine Connolly, with the new rules due to take effect on 1 March.
From that date, a nationwide Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) will apply, limiting rent increases to a maximum of 2% per year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
The reforms mark a significant expansion of the RPZ system, which had previously applied only in designated high-pressure areas.
Under the new framework, new-build apartments and student accommodation will be exempt from the 2% cap.
Landlords will also be permitted to reset rents to market levels once a property becomes vacant, provided the previous tenant left voluntarily.
‘Legacy Low Rents’ Concern
Speaking on The Hard Shoulder, IPOA spokesperson Mary Conway said the reforms favour new entrants to the market rather than existing landlords.
“It works very well if I was a landlord coming in for the very first time,” she said.
However, she argued that long-standing landlords who have kept rents below market levels since the introduction of RPZs in 2016 are effectively locked into what she described as “legacy low rents.”
“It doesn’t meet the needs of landlords who are on legacy low rents because they never have a chance to get the rent to market rent,” she said.
According to Ms Conway, these landlords are among those choosing to exit the market.
“That’s why most of those landlords are the people leaving the market,” she added.
Impact of Rent Pressure Zones
Rent Pressure Zones were first introduced in 2016 as rents surged during the post-recession recovery.
The system limited annual rent increases in designated areas to stabilise costs for tenants.
Ms Conway noted that tenants who have remained in the same property since 2016 — often referred to as “stayers” — have seen rents rise by an average of 22%.
She contrasted that with newer tenancies, where rent levels have increased by 68% since 2016.
“So new rents are going up, but there are a lot of landlords who are stuck on low legacy rents since 2015 because the tenants haven’t moved,” she said.
The disparity between long-term tenancies and newer lets has become a key tension point in the debate over rent regulation.
Rural Versus Urban Market Dynamics
Ms Conway also argued that the reform debate has been overly focused on Dublin and does not sufficiently account for rural market conditions.
“A lot of our members are in rural areas and if a landlord leaves a rural area, no investment company is building an apartment there,” she said.
She added that Approved Housing Bodies are less likely to deliver new developments in rural communities compared to urban centres.
“So, while the debate is very Dublin-focused all the time, we really do need to look outside Dublin on what’s happening down the country,” she said.
Landlord representatives have long argued that smaller, rural landlords face different economic pressures compared to large institutional investors concentrated in cities.
Government Position
Housing Minister James Browne has defended the legislation, stating that it will “provide greater certainty and stability for tenants.”
He has also argued that the reforms will encourage an increase in the number of rental homes available, addressing chronic supply shortages.
The Government maintains that linking rent increases to inflation or a 2% ceiling provides predictability for tenants while offering clarity to landlords.
Critics, however, contend that the inability to immediately align older tenancies with current market rates may accelerate landlord exits.
The reforms come at a time when rental supply remains historically low, intensifying scrutiny over whether tighter regulation will stabilise the market or further constrain availability.
With the nationwide RPZ coming into force from March 1, both tenants and landlords will soon see how the expanded cap operates in practice across urban and rural Ireland alike.
