New tenants are paying an average of almost €4,000 more a year than existing renters as the cost of securing a home continues to rise sharply.
The standardised average rent for a new tenancy reached €1,839 a month during the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 9.1 per cent on the previous year, according to the latest Residential Tenancies Board and ESRI rent index.
Existing tenants paid an average of €1,513, with annual rent growth moderating to 4.2 per cent.
The €326 monthly gap means somebody entering a new tenancy faces an additional annual cost of €3,912 compared with the average sitting tenant.
Opposition housing representatives described the figures as evidence that Government rental policy was failing and renewed calls for restrictions on rent increases.
However, the RTB said it was too early to determine whether the acceleration in new-tenancy rents reflected a temporary adjustment to rent-setting rules introduced in March or a more lasting change in the market.
Dr Rachel Slaymaker (pictured above) of the ESRI said further data would be required before the impact of the reforms could be properly assessed.
The figures cover the first three months of the year and therefore do not capture the full effect of the new system introduced on March 1.
Under the reforms, rent increases within existing tenancies are limited to 2 per cent a year or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
Landlords can reset a property to the market rate when a tenancy ends in certain circumstances.
The national average also conceals significant differences between different parts of the country, with 10 counties recording annual increases of at least 10 per cent in rents for new tenancies.
Separate RTB figures for the second quarter showed a sharp fall in notices of termination following an unusually large increase at the beginning of the year.
The regulator received 4,031 notices between April and June, down 42.9 per cent on the previous quarter and 14.7 per cent on the same period last year.
Landlords intending to sell their properties accounted for 2,023 notices, or just over half of the total.
RTB director Rosemary Steen said the decline suggested the high number recorded during the first quarter had been temporary rather than the beginning of a sustained trend.
“The latest data shows that the rental sector continues to stabilise and adjust following the introduction of significant rental law reforms earlier this year,” she said.
“Notices of termination have seen a sharp decline in Q2 2026, suggesting that the unusually high volumes seen in Q1 2026 were temporary rather than indicative of a sustained trend.”
The number of registered private tenancies increased by 1.5 per cent annually to 241,072 but remained largely unchanged during the quarter.
The number of registered private landlords rose to 105,555, an annual increase of 1.4 per cent, although it fell marginally compared with the first quarter.
There was substantial growth in the number of homes provided outside the traditional private rental sector.
Cost-rental tenancies increased by 82.5 per cent over the year to 6,186, while tenancies managed by Approved Housing Bodies rose by 11.5 per cent to a record 59,055.
Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin (pictured above) rejected the RTB’s suggestion that the rental market was stabilising and called for an immediate ban on rent increases and evictions.
The Dublin Mid-West TD said the continued increase in rents would place further pressure on households forced to find a new home.
“New rents are up 9 per cent year on year at the end of March this year,” Deputy Ó Broin said. “Meanwhile, more than 4,000 eviction notices were issued to tenants between April and June this year.
“And while the number of eviction notices is down on the first quarter of this year, it is still a significant number of people. These renters will now have to start looking for a new home in a market of rising rents and stagnating supply.”
He said changes to rent pressure zones and apartment design standards, along with VAT reductions for apartment developers, had so far failed to produce an increase in private rental supply.
“In fact, a year after the Government announced changes to rent pressure zones, apartment design standards and massive VAT breaks for apartment developers, there is no sign that private rental supply is increasing,” he said. “It has simply flatlined.”
Deputy Ó Broin called for a ban on rent increases and evictions, stronger security of tenure protections and a full month’s rent to be returned to every private renter.
He also called for a significant increase in the construction of social, cost-rental and affordable-purchase homes.
Labour housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD (pictured above) said the 9.1 per cent increase should “set alarm bells ringing” in the Department of Housing.
“A new tenant is now being asked to find an average of €1,839 every single month just to keep a roof over their head,” he said.
“That is €1,839 before a household pays for electricity, heating, food, transport, childcare or anything else.
“The gap between new and existing tenants is particularly stark. Someone entering a new tenancy is paying an average of €326 more every month. That is almost €4,000 extra over the course of a year simply because they had the misfortune of needing to find a new home.”
Deputy Sheehan said Labour’s proposed rent brake would stop further rent increases for three years while the State increased its supply of social, affordable and cost-rental housing.
“People cannot budget around increases like this,” he said. “Workers cannot simply find another few hundred euro every month.
“Young people cannot save for a deposit while handing over €1,839 to a landlord.
“Families cannot build any kind of financial security when housing consumes such an enormous share of their income.”
The RTB will gain new enforcement powers from September 14, allowing it to issue fixed-payment notices for six breaches of rental law.
Its initial enforcement campaigns will focus on failures to register tenancies and breaches of rent-setting requirements.
Since March, landlords have been required to provide both their tenant and the RTB with a notice explaining how a new rent was calculated in accordance with national rent-control rules.
A landlord who fails to provide the required notice may face a €200 fixed-payment notice for each breach.
The regulator has also published details of 10 sanctions imposed on landlords with a combined value of €57,980.
A total of 1,133 compliance notices were issued during the second quarter to landlords who had failed to register tenancies.