THERE WAS A 51% jump in eviction notices issued in the first quarter of this year.

The Residential Tenancies Board received some 7,062 notices of termination in the first three months of 2026, 51% higher compared to the same period a year before.

It’s also the highest quarterly figure since the data series began.

When a landlord wants to end a tenancy, they share a document called a Notice of Termination with their tenant, as well as the RTB.

Just under 2,000 were issued on January, a 36% increase compared to the year before.

But in February there was a near doubling, with more than 3,100 eviction notices issued.

This dropped to around 1,900 in March, which was 18% higher than the year before.

In 60% of cases, the tenancy was ended because the landlord intended to sell the property, while 20% of eviction notices were issued because the landlord or their family member intended to move into the property.

The increase in eviction notices issued in the first quarter of 2026 comes on the back of a big increase at the end of last year.

In Quarter 4 of last year, some 5,207 eviction notices were issued, a 41% increase compared to the year before.

The spike in eviction notices coincides with sweeping changes to the rental sector which came into effect on 1 March.

The new rules mean that if a property is vacant, the landlord can set the rent at market rates instead of increases being capped at 2%.

Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the “dramatic increase in eviction notices is deeply concerning” and a “direct result of the government’s disastrous changes to rent pressure zone rules earlier this year”.

“Thousands of renters are now facing eviction at the very time that government has allowed landlords charge new tenants even higher rents,” said Ó Broin.

He called on the government to “reverse the disastrous changes to the rent pressure zone rules and introduce both a ban on rent increases and a ban on no fault evictions”.

Ó Broin said this should be done alongside a “significant increase in the delivery of social, affordable and private for purchase homes”.

The Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) has said the data shows a “landlord exodus”. It said this should be a “wake-up call” for the government.

“The government’s rental reforms have further undermined confidence among small and medium-sized landlords, many of whom no longer see a viable future in remaining in the sector,” it said.

“Landlords are being asked to operate under rising compliance obligations, increasing restrictions, and a tax regime that in many cases leaves them paying effective tax rates of over 50% on rental income.”

However, the data shows registered tenancies increased to around 246,000, the highest level on record.

New versus existing tenancies

The average rent for new tenancies also rose year-on-year by 5% in Q4 of 2025, to reach €1,755, while average rent for existing tenancies rose by 4.4% to €1,503.

It means that on average, sitting tenants pay €252 less per month than new tenants.

Elsewhere, applications for dispute resolution increase by close to 18% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, while the RTB successfully prosecuted six unregistered landlords.

Social Democrats housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said in a statement today: “The Government rammed through cruel and deeply flawed laws which represent a complete capitulation to large investor funds and landlords and a complete disregard for renters.

“It was made clear that these changes would cause not just record evictions but record rents, but the Minister introduced them anyway.”

During leaders’ questions in the Dáil today, Hearne said that Simon Harris showed a “lack of concern” for the “real life trauma” many individuals and families experience due to eviction.

Hearne said government policy had caused the crisis and called for an emergency ban on no-fault evictions.

In response, the Tánaiste said that while there was a spike in evictions, there was also an increase in the number of tenancies registered.

-With additional reporting from Mairead Maguire