THE GOVERNMENT’S MAJOR incoming reforms for the private rental sector will result in sharp increases in rent for new tenants across several parts of the country, Sinn Féin has claimed.

The calculations project this will particularly affect rented housing nationwide and apartments outside Dublin after the changes come into affect for any new tenancies created from next month. Tenants who currently have a rental contract will not be affected.

They claim renters taking up new tenancies from next month could end up paying an average of 16.8% more on their rent by the end of this year – amounting to an average €249 on their monthly bill.

The assessment is based on the effects of the Government’s Residential Tenancies Bill, which will come into effect for new tenancies created on or after 1 March 2026.

It uses data collected by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) – the rental sector watchdog – which tracks both new and annual registration tenancies by landlords for market prices.

It bases its figures off the increases tracked by the RTB in rent for newly created tenancies in Q2 of last year, when the average new tenancy was 16.7% higher than that for an existing tenancy. This is partly because those existing tenancies were covered by a mechanism called Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ).

This meant that landlords could not raise the rent beyond 2%, but the new legislation will allow landlords to raise the rent to the ‘market rate’ after a tenancy has ended.

However, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has pointed to the new Bill’s plan to introduce a ‘market reset’ function as critical to the risk of rising costs facing tenants.

“This is the key thing,” Ó Broin told The Journal. “The outgoing RPZ rules didn’t just constrain rent increases within existing tenancies but also between tenancies.”

The Government has said the new legislation will greatly strengthen renters’ rights, as they will also mean that landlords will only be allowed to reset rents every six years or if a tenancy ends before then.

Housing Minister James Browne is also making the entire country a Rental Pressure Zone.

The Government has repeatedly outlined that the market reset mechanism is a way of attracting investment into the private sector to ensure the supply of apartments and housing is maintained.

However, there has been criticism from Opposition politicians around how landlords will be able to reset rents under the new reforms.

In response to this over recent months, the Government has pointed to the upcoming creation of a Rent Price Register, which it has insisted will provide greater transparency in rental prices.

Ó Broin told The Journal that the result of the changes will be “even higher rip-off rent” and “significant increases” in homelessness for those on low or modest incomes.

Sharp increase in rent in some areas

Sinn Féin’s assessment claims that renters in Dublin apartments will be paying an extra €237, or 12.1% more, within three years of the reforms taking effect.

A similar increase may face renters in apartments outside Dublin, Ó Broin claimed, as they could be hit with bills that are €237 higher – but that is a sharp increase of 21.4% based on current figures.

The party’s figures claimed that significant increases are also at risk for rented housing in and outside of Dublin – 19.7% (or €417) for people in the capital and 26.2% (€305) for the rest of the country.

Related Reads

Explainer: In a few weeks, new rent rules will kick in - here's how it might impact you

“The reason why the houses are having bigger increases than the apartments because, on average, these properties are older and have been covered by RPZs for longer, so the gap between existing and market rents is greater,” Ó Broin said.

The Dublin Midwest TD added that the “vast majority” of renters may fall under the new rental rules within six years.

“When you consider that according to the RTB, the average length of a tenancy in the private rental sector is 3.5 years and that 25% of private rental tenancies registered with the RTB are new first-time tenancies, then within 4 to 6 years the vast majority of renters will be captured by these new rules,” he said.

The Department of Housing was contacted and in response a spokesperson said that the new reforms are structured partly to generate significantly greater supply in the rental market.

“As supply increases to meet demand, rents will stabilise,” the spokesperson said.

“It is also important to note that record levels of government investment in public housing will also reduce pressures on the rental market with the highest levels of social housing delivered in decades, supporting many households to transfer from HAP supported tenancies in the private rental market to local authority and AHB social homes.

“Investment in cost rental is also providing more affordable properties for renters.”