Ireland’s rental laws are changing again from 14 September 2026, with new powers for the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), public adjudication hearings and revised procedures for serving rent and tenancy notices.
The changes come under the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 and will affect how certain rental-law breaches are enforced and how RTB disputes and notices are handled.
For landlords, one of the most significant changes is the introduction of fixed-payment notices for six specific breaches. For tenants, the move to public RTB adjudication hearings could make future disputes considerably more visible.
The RTB announced the changes on 31 August and is urging landlords and tenants to understand the new requirements before they take effect.
RTB gets new power to issue fixed-payment notices
From 14 September, the RTB will be able to issue fixed-payment notices for six specified breaches of rental law.
They cover:
- failing to register a tenancy;
- failing to update tenancy details;
- failing to provide rent-setting information when a tenancy begins;
- setting rent above the legal limit;
- failing to notify the RTB of a rent exemption; and
- failing to correctly provide a rent review notice.
A landlord receiving a fixed-payment notice could face a €200 payment for a rent-related breach or €100 for other breaches.
The new system does not replace the RTB’s existing investigation and prosecution powers. Instead, it gives the board an additional enforcement mechanism for dealing with certain breaches.
That means some compliance failures can potentially be dealt with through a fixed payment without relying solely on the existing enforcement process.
The change also comes as the RTB continues to strengthen its regulatory role following the wider rental reforms introduced earlier in 2026.
RTB adjudication hearings will become public
Another major change concerns RTB dispute resolution.
For new dispute applications made from 14 September 2026, RTB adjudication hearings will generally be held in public.
The RTB says it will publish a weekly schedule of adjudication hearings. Members of the public will be able to request attendance, while the board will publish the full adjudication report online.
Those reports can contain the names of the parties, the address of the rental property, evidence presented during the dispute and the adjudicator’s decision. The published information can therefore provide considerably more detail about individual rental disputes than has previously been available.
The media will also be able to report on the published dispute information.
The change does not apply retrospectively. Where a party applied for dispute resolution before 14 September, the adjudication hearing will not become public under the new rules.
RTB mediation will remain private, and mediation outcomes will not be published on the RTB website. The board says that adjudication and tribunal hearings can only be held privately in very limited and exceptional circumstances.
The change brings adjudication closer to the existing approach for RTB tribunal hearings, which are already public.
Why the change matters
The move could increase transparency around rental disputes, but it also means landlords and tenants involved in future adjudication cases should be aware that information about the dispute may become publicly accessible.
For landlords in particular, compliance with rental law becomes even more important as the RTB expands its enforcement and publication powers.
Landlords get seven days to send notices to the RTB
There is also a significant procedural change affecting notices.
From 14 September, a landlord will have seven days from serving a notice of termination or rent review notice on a tenant to provide a copy to the RTB.
Previously, the landlord was required to serve the notice on the tenant and the RTB on the same day.
The RTB says landlords should continue to submit notices through its online Service Centre.
The change gives landlords a longer period to notify the RTB, but it does not remove the need to serve the tenant correctly.
Different rules apply to different notices
Rent-setting and rent-review notices can be served on a tenant by:
- email;
- post; or
- hand delivery to the tenant’s address.
Termination notices are different.
The RTB says a termination notice should not be sent to a tenant by post. The tenant must receive the notice on the date of service stated in the notice.
The board recommends that landlords email a termination notice where possible. If email cannot be used, the notice can be hand-delivered or left at the tenant’s address.
This distinction is important because an incorrectly served Notice of Termination can create problems for a landlord attempting to lawfully end a tenancy.
The RTB’s wider guidance continues to require landlords to use the correct notice period, legal ground and notice documentation when ending a tenancy.
RTB dispute appeals will also change
The new legislation also changes some of the time limits surrounding RTB dispute resolution.
From 14 September, the RTB can give parties 10 working days’ notice of a tribunal hearing.
That replaces the previous 21-calendar-day notice period.
There is also a change to the period for appealing a mediation decision to a tribunal. Parties will have 10 working days to make the appeal, rather than the previous 10-calendar-day period that applied to a tenant.
The RTB says the changes are intended to standardise appeal periods and reduce the time taken to process disputes.
For landlords and tenants involved in an active dispute, the distinction between calendar days and working days is therefore worth paying attention to.
What landlords should check before 14 September
The changes give landlords another reason to make sure their rental records and procedures are up to date.
Before the new rules take effect, landlords should check that:
- every tenancy that needs to be registered has been registered with the RTB;
- tenancy information is updated when circumstances change;
- rent-setting and rent-review information is provided correctly;
- rent increases comply with the applicable legal limits;
- any rent exemption is properly notified to the RTB;
- rent review notices contain the required information;
- Notices of Termination use the correct legal ground and notice period; and
- notices are served using the correct method.
The wider rental reforms introduced on 1 March 2026 already changed how rents can be set and reviewed and how landlords can end many newer tenancies. Those rules apply differently depending on when a tenancy began and, for new tenancies, the size of the landlord.
The September changes therefore sit on top of an already significantly revised rental-law framework.
What tenants should know
Tenants should also be aware of the changes, particularly if they become involved in an RTB dispute or receive a rent review or Notice of Termination.
A tenant receiving a notice should check that it has been served correctly and that the landlord has followed the relevant legal requirements.
If a dispute is brought to the RTB from 14 September, tenants should also understand that an adjudication hearing will generally be public and that the resulting report may be published.
That is different from RTB mediation, which remains private.
Tenants should retain copies of rent notices, tenancy agreements, correspondence, payment records and other documents that may become relevant if a dispute arises.
A stronger enforcement role for the RTB
The September changes represent another step in the expansion of the RTB’s regulatory and dispute-resolution role.
The board already maintains Ireland’s national tenancy register, provides information to landlords and tenants, investigates certain forms of improper conduct and resolves rental disputes. The new fixed-payment system gives it an additional way to address specific breaches, while the public-hearing rules introduce greater transparency into adjudication.
The changes also come only months after Ireland introduced a new national rent-control system and new rules governing how landlords can end certain tenancies from 1 March 2026.
For landlords, the practical message is straightforward: rental-law compliance is becoming more important, not less.
For tenants, the changes provide greater visibility into RTB decisions but also make it important to understand how notices, appeals and dispute procedures work.
The new provisions take effect on 14 September 2026. Anyone dealing with a tenancy or RTB dispute should check the latest RTB guidance and the applicable legislation rather than relying on older notice or dispute procedures.
