New Rental Rules Cause Confusion, Eviction Notices, and Homelessness Risk, Warns Threshold
New rental rules are causing widespread confusion, leading to incorrect eviction notices and concerns about rising rents and homelessness, warns housing charity Threshold. Landlords are misinterpreting rules on rent resets and tenancies, while the Department of Housing offers little clarity. This impacts tenant security and affordability, especially for those receiving HAP.
National housing charity Threshold has warned that new rental rules, effective March 1, 2026, are causing confusion among landlords and tenants, leading to incorrect eviction notices and concerns about affordability.
Some landlords mistakenly believe the rules allow them to reset rents to market level for existing tenancies or new tenants, but resets are only permitted if a tenant leaves voluntarily or after a six-year tenancy ends. Threshold is also concerned about «constructive evictions,» where landlords neglect properties, forcing tenants out, then claim voluntary departure to raise rents.
In Q1 this year, 63% of Threshold's new cases involved security of tenure, with 46% of clients receiving eviction notices and 17% fearing tenancy termination. 2,372 households were at risk of homelessness. The charity advocates for increased Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits aligned with market rent resets.
Confusion extends to house-shares: property firm Ires Reit claims new tenants in existing house-shares create new tenancies subject to new rules, while the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) states a new tenant joins the existing tenancy. A Co Kildare landlord reported the Department of Housing declined to clarify this «hypothetical» scenario.