How Ireland makes renting more affordable

In an effort to solve its years-long housing crisis, Ireland will implement a countrywide Rent Pressure Zone (RPZ) policy from 1 March.

The policy, which was initially region-specific, was expanded countrywide in June 2025.

New rules will take effect from 1 March 2026 to increase tenant protections while creating a more stable and attractive market for landlords and investors.

The proposals limited annual rent increases in the private sector to a maximum of 2% or the inflation rate, whichever is lower.

“Ireland has a housing crisis and has had for several years, arising primarily because the economy is booming and a lot of Irish people who have immigrated are coming back and looking for a place to live,” said Mike Allen, Policy Director at Focus Ireland.

He added that the policy also included a new rule allowing landlords to reset rental prices to market levels every six years, rather than being tied to the previous tenant’s rent.

“Given how long this has been going on in Ireland, the resetting could be a 100% increase in your rent. The reason the government is doing this is because of a fall-off in investments. We need to build between 50,000 homes every year to catch up, and international investors were not investing in new homes because of the 2%.

“It’s not that we want more of the housing to be private rentals, that wouldn’t really solve anything; what we want is for there to be more housing. Investors need to come in, and that takes time,” said Allen.

To listen to Allen in conversation with CapeTalk’s John Maytham, use the audio player below: