Rent increases in Ireland are capped at 2% a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower, for nearly every tenancy nationwide, and the RTB's Rent Increase Calculator produces the exact figure. A review can happen once in any 12 months, on at least 90 days of written notice, using the RTB's Notice of Rent Review, and the notice must reach the RTB the same day the tenant is served or it is invalid.
Unit 12's review is ready by Tuesday morning: the calculator printout says the number, the three comparable dwellings are saved from the register, the form is complete. Serving the tenant is the easy half. The copy that has to reach the Residential Tenancies Board before the day ends decides whether any of it counts, and it is the half a busy week forgets. Ireland does not run the strictest cap in this library; it runs the strictest workflow.
The market-neutral spine of a rent increase, cadence, notice, service, and the file, is covered in How and When to Raise Rent: Scheduling, Notice Periods, and Documentation. This is the Ireland layer: the national cap and its one exception, the clocks, the dossier the official form actually demands, and the second delivery that validates the first. Operator education, not legal advice, with every rule named to its official source.
How much you can raise rent in Ireland
Since March 1, 2026, one national rule covers nearly every Irish tenancy: rent can rise by at most 2% a year, or the rate of inflation if that is lower (RTB, Setting and reviewing private rents from 1 March 2026, checked August 2026). The framework is the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 as amended, and the lower-of rule is the operative half: when inflation runs under 2%, the ceiling follows it down. The exception runs the other way: new apartments and new student-specific accommodation whose construction commenced after June 10, 2025 track inflation alone, with no 2% ceiling.
The RTB Rent Increase Calculator is where the figure actually comes from. The percentage depends on inflation data and on the dwelling's own dates, so the RTB tells landlords to run the calculator and keep the printout, because the printout travels with the notice. This page deliberately prints no computed figure: the ceiling is stable, the inflation component moves, and the calculator is current in a way an article can never be.
The clocks: once a year, ninety days ahead
Ireland's frequency rule is one review in any 12 months, measured from when the rent was last set. At the start of a tenancy the rent is set on day one, so the first review comes no earlier than a year in; after that, each review waits a year from the last.
The notice floor is 90 days: the RTB's instruction is to serve the Notice of Rent Review at least 90 days before the new rent takes effect (RTB, Guide to rent review notices, checked August 2026). Stack the two clocks and the shape appears: the decision belongs to month nine of the cycle, because a review decided at the anniversary arrives three months late, and the next window runs from wherever this one lands.
The Notice of Rent Review and the dossier it demands
The Notice of Rent Review is the RTB's official rent-review form, and it is closer to a filing than a letter. Around the core facts (the dwelling, the tenancy start date, the current and new rent, the effective date, the signature and its date), the form carries a landlord checklist, the dwelling's identifiers (Eircode, registered tenancy number, floor area, BER), and Part C: three comparable dwellings drawn from the RTB's own published rent register, matched for size, type, and character. The calculator printout is submitted with it.
Two other markets in this library prescribe the paper. Ontario's N1 is a form you fill and serve: Ontario Rent Increases: The N1 Notice, the Guideline, and the 90-Day Clock. England's Form 4A arrived with a reformed regime: England Rent Increases: Section 13, Form 4A, and the Reformed Regime. Ireland's form asks for more than either, and then adds a second recipient.
The same-day filing
The rule that defines the Irish workflow is the second delivery: the notice must be served on the tenant and on the RTB on the same day, and if it does not reach the RTB, the notice is invalid. The RTB's guide states the postal trap plainly: a posted copy is invalid unless it is delivered to the RTB on the same day the tenant receives the notice, which makes the online submission through the RTB Service Centre the dependable route. Filing tomorrow instead of today is not a small slip; it unwinds the review.
Invalidity in a once-a-year market has a familiar price: the old rent keeps running, the full 90 days run again from a fresh service, and the 12-month clock measures from wherever the rent was actually, lawfully set. The dossier is also the defense: the printout, the comparables, the served form, and the same-day record answer any later dispute at the RTB.
Reviews versus resets
The capped review is the only lever on an existing tenancy: the RTB states plainly that re-setting to market rent is not allowed for tenancies that predate March 1, 2026. Tenancies created from that date run on six-year cycles the RTB calls tenancies of minimum duration, and for those, rent can be set to market twice: when a genuinely new tenancy begins, though not after a no-fault termination, and at the end of a six-year cycle. Between those moments, the capped annual review is the machinery.
Ireland's rent increase rules, at a glance
The whole rulebook, row by row, with its sources:
| Rule | Ireland's answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cap on the amount | 2% a year or inflation, whichever is lower, nationwide | RTB, from 1 March 2026 |
| The exception | New apartments and student accommodation begun after June 10, 2025: inflation only | RTB |
| The figure | Produced by the RTB Rent Increase Calculator; printout kept and submitted | RTB |
| Frequency | Once per 12 months, from when the rent was last set | RTB |
| Notice | At least 90 days before the new rent takes effect | RTB, Guide to rent review notices |
| Form | RTB Notice of Rent Review, with checklist, identifiers, and three comparables from the rent register | RTB |
| Filing | Served on the tenant and the RTB the same day, or the notice is invalid | RTB, Guide to rent review notices |
| Resets | Existing tenancies: never. From March 1, 2026: a genuine new tenancy, or the end of a six-year cycle | RTB |
The Irish procedure, start to finish
Run this per lease, counted backward from the intended effective date:
- Check the clock. Confirm 12 months have passed since the rent was last set on this tenancy.
- Run the RTB calculator. Enter the tenancy's dates and rent, take the maximum it produces, and keep the printout.
- Pull three comparables. Dwellings of similar size, type, and character from the RTB's published rent register, saved with the printout.
- Complete the Notice of Rent Review. The core facts, the checklist, the identifiers, Part C's comparables, and a signature with its date.
- Pick the effective date. At least 90 days out from service.
- Serve twice, same day. The tenant, and the RTB through the Service Centre; a posted RTB copy must arrive that day, not the next.
- Keep the record. The served form, the printout, the comparables, and both deliveries' dates anchor the next 12-month window.
Key questions
Do the Rent Pressure Zone rules still apply in Ireland?
The cap they created now applies everywhere. Since March 1, 2026 the RTB describes one national rule: rent rises by at most 2% a year, or the rate of inflation if that is lower, with new apartments and student accommodation whose construction commenced after June 10, 2025 tracking inflation alone. One transitional edge remains: the RTB states that properties in areas newly designated as Rent Pressure Zones cannot see a review until 24 months after the rent was last set.
How often can rent be reviewed in Ireland?
Once in any 12 months, measured from when the rent was last set (Residential Tenancies Board, checked August 2026). A tenancy's first review therefore comes no earlier than a year after the rent was set at the start, and each later review no earlier than a year after the last.
How much notice does a landlord have to give for a rent increase in Ireland?
At least 90 days before the new rent takes effect, in writing, using the RTB's Notice of Rent Review (Residential Tenancies Board, checked August 2026). The same notice, with the calculator printout and comparable-dwelling details the form requires, must also reach the RTB on the day the tenant is served, so the working deadline is really two deliveries, not one.
Does the rent review notice have to go to the RTB?
Yes, on the same day the tenant is served, or the notice is invalid. The RTB's guidance is blunt about the postal trap: a posted copy that reaches the RTB later than the day the tenant receives the notice invalidates it, which is why the online submission through the RTB Service Centre is the dependable route. An invalid notice means the review never lawfully happened; the practical fix is to serve fresh and run the full 90 days again.
Can I reset the rent to market when a tenancy ends in Ireland?
Sometimes, under the rules that took effect March 1, 2026. For tenancies created from that date, rent can be set to market when a genuinely new tenancy begins (not after a no-fault termination) and at the end of a six-year tenancy cycle. For existing tenancies the RTB states plainly that re-setting to market rent is not allowed; the capped annual review is the only lever.
Does Scaalr calculate the maximum rent increase for Ireland?
No, by design. The RTB Rent Increase Calculator is the authoritative source of an Irish maximum, and its answer depends on inflation data and the dwelling's own dates, so Scaalr requires you to enter the RTB-calculated figure on each lease rather than computing one for you. The product states this at market acknowledgment, along with the same-day filing rule and the checklist the form requires.
How Scaalr runs an Irish schedule
Scaalr treats an Irish rent increase as a scheduled, validated event on the lease, and it treats Ireland as what it is: a review-and-serve market with the operator in the loop. Each scheduled increase takes the explicit percentage you enter, which for Ireland is the RTB-calculated maximum; the engine never computes the Irish cap, and the market's own acknowledgment screen says so. The schedule is validated when you set it and re-checked before anything serves: the 90-day floor against the effective date, one increase per 12-month window, and a no-increase window at the start of a tenancy, with a renewal never resetting the clocks.
The official Notice of Rent Review is filled for the core fields: the dwelling's address, the tenancy start date, the current and new rent, the effective date, the signed-and-served date, and the landlord's name and address, with the signature anchored on the form. The parts only you can complete are flagged rather than faked: the landlord checklist, the tenancy-type and rent-frequency selections, the Eircode, registered tenancy number, floor area, and BER, the calculator printout, and Part C's three comparable dwellings from the RTB register. Nothing goes out unsigned: a designated signer captures a signature once, reviews each notice individually, or routes it to the property owner through a secure emailed link, and a schedule with no usable signature holds.
Service runs where the rules allow: electronically where valid, or recorded as a staff task, and the same-day RTB filing is yours, with the record keeping both dates side by side. Nothing serves in Ireland until a manager reviews and acknowledges the market's current rules; until then the schedule pauses. Every supported market is listed on the rent increases page, and automated rent-increase notices are included on Growth and up.
Unit 12, current
Back to unit 12. The schedule surfaced the review in month nine, the form composed with its core fields already right, the printout and the comparables went into the file you assembled once instead of the morning of, and both deliveries happened on the same Tuesday, on the record. Ireland left you the judgment and the evidence; the calendar, the form, and the file run on the system.