Dublin City Council introduces new Differential Rent Scheme

Dublin City Council will be introducing a new Differential Rent Scheme from 6 April 2026, the first significant change to the scheme in 30 years. 

New rents will be applied to all social housing tenancies in Dublin City, including homes owned and leased by Dublin City Council and homes owned and leased by Approved Housing Bodies.

It will also apply to tenants in receipt of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

The council says the differential rent scheme is an income-based assessment and affects tenants in different ways depending on their earnings, rents will vary from home to home.

Today the average rent charge in Dublin City Council is €83 per week or €360 per month.

This equates to 12% of net income earned.

On average the proposed changes will increase the average percentage of household income spent on rent from 12% to 13%.

The average increase of household rent across all tenancies would be €24 per week and the average rent will amount to €108 per week or €470 per month.

The lowest rent that will be charged to the lowest income households would be €35.82 a week or €155.22

Central to the review of the Rent Scheme was the objective to protect vulnerable tenants, particularly those on social welfare, those lower paid and those on single incomes.

To achieve this, there has been a significant increase in the unassessed income applied along with additional deductions for children

• A single occupant receiving unemployment benefit and with no dependent children would see a rent increase of €2.22 per week
• A single parent with two dependent children, earning between €244 and €600 a week, would see a rent increase of between €1.22 and €2.50 per week

Dublin City Council maintains over 29,000 social homes across the city and over 50% of these homes are more than 55 years old and many require extensive upgrades.

The current rent revenue generated from Dublin City Council tenancies does not cover the cost of maintaining and managing the housing stock.

Extensive engagement with Councillors took place between March and November 2025 to review the Rent Scheme and identify opportunities for change.

Central to this work was ensuring that any changes would be fair and equitable, in particular for vulnerable tenants, and would generate additional income for the Council to spend on upgrading our homes.

This work concluded in November 2025 and a summary of the key changes include

• The Differential Rate for primary earners will move from 15% to 18% of net income.
• All Secondary Earners will each pay up to a maximum of €40 per week.
• The income not assessed will increase from €32 to €55 to lessons the impact on lower paid.
• Child deduction would increase from €1 per week to €3 per week per child under 18 or in full time education to 22 years old, to lessons the impact on tenancies with children.
• Self-Employed tenants will have an assumed income of €700 per week, if no supporting documentation is provided.

The new Differential Rent Scheme will generate an increase of c.€33m in income over a full 12-month period.

The additional income will fund improvements to our existing homes and will ensure the City Council can take a more financially sustainable approach to the maintenance of homes.

The types of work will include; energy efficiency upgrades; boiler replacements; improvements to our flat complexes and communal areas; replacement of window, doors and roofs; and adaptations to existing homes.

For more information on the new Rent Scheme please click here: www.dublincity.ie/differentialrentscheme