The RTB publishes six forms that touch the rent. Two are notices a landlord must serve, two are exemption notices for the rare cases where market rent is allowed, one is a tenant’s calculation, and one is the dispute application both sides use. Landlords mix them up, most often by serving a Rent Review when they needed a Rent Setting, and a wrong or half-filled form is void: the increase never happens and, since 14 September 2026, the RTB can fine for it. Here is the map.
The six forms at a glance
| Form | Who, when | Must contain | Goes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notice of Rent Review | Landlord, to change the rent of a sitting tenant. Once in 12 months, 90 days before the new rent. | New rent and date; three comparable RT numbers with rents; floor area; BER; the 2%/CPI calculation; the statement that rent is not above market; the dispute deadline (s.22(2A)). | Tenant, and a copy to the RTB within 7 days. |
| Notice of Rent Setting | Landlord, at the start of a tenancy created on or after 1 March 2026. | Previous rent and when it was set; RT of the previous tenancy; how the new rent was worked out under s.19; three comparables (s.12(1)(i)). | Tenant at the start; RTB within one month of the tenancy beginning (tenancies from 14 September 2026). |
| Notice of Rent Review Exemption | Landlord claiming a substantial change to the home at a review. | Which of the three tests is met (25% extension, energy drop shown by two BERs, three of five works) with the evidence listed (s.19(5A), (5B)). | RTB and tenant within one month of setting the rent. |
| Notice of Rent Setting Exemption | Landlord setting market rent for a new tenancy under one of the s.19(5) grounds. | The ground: two years vacant, last tenant left by own notice, last tenancy ended for breach or unsuitability, substantial change, 6-year reset, SSA rule. | RTB and tenant within one month. |
| Calculation of Overpaid Rent | Tenant who believes the rent went above the cap. | Rent as last lawfully set, each increase, the lawful maximum for each, the difference month by month. | Attached to a dispute application; useful in a letter to the landlord first. |
| Dispute application | Either party. Rent figure: before the new rent starts or within 28 days of the notice. Invalid notice or rent above market: no deadline. | The notice, the tenancy agreement, proof of rent, the calculation, the comparables checked. | RTB online. Mediation free, adjudication €30. |
Review or Setting: the mistake that costs the most
A Notice of Rent Review is for a tenant who is already in the home. A Notice of Rent Setting is for a tenant who is moving in, and it exists because since 1 March 2026 the rent of a new tenancy is tied to the rent of the previous one (section 19(4)(c)). The Setting notice tells the new tenant what the last tenant paid and when, gives the RT number of that tenancy so they can check, and shows how the new figure was reached. The RTB receives the same information and can compare it with its own record of the previous tenancy.
Serving a Review notice to a new tenant does not give them that information, so it does not do the job; and a Setting notice served to a sitting tenant is not a review under section 22, so the increase does not take effect. The RTB’s guide to rent review notices and guide to rent setting notices have the current September 2026 PDFs and a page-by-page walk-through.
What the Review notice must contain
Section 22(2A) is a list, and every item is required. The new rent and the date it starts, at least 90 days after service. A statement that the new rent is not above market rent. For each of three comparable tenancies from the public Rent Register, the rent and the RT number: similar floor area, bedrooms, type, character and BER, in a comparable area. The floor area of the home in square metres. The BER, where the home needs one. The section 19(4) calculation with both CPI figures. And the statement that a dispute must be lodged before the new rent starts or within 28 days. Since 28 February 2026 a copy has to reach the RTB, from 14 September 2026 within 7 days of service; without it the notice is not served (section 22(2)).
The three RT numbers are where most notices fail. Picking the three most expensive tenancies in the area is not the same as picking three similar homes, and a tenant who looks them up will see a 130 m² house cited against a 65 m² flat. Our Rent Review Report chooses the three closest matches and fills the form from them.
The exemption notices
Both are one-month filings, not requests: the landlord asserts the exemption and the RTB records it. A false exemption is a rent above the section 19(4) limit, which is on the RTB’s list of improper conduct (investigation and a sanction of up to €15,000 plus €15,000 costs) and, from 14 September 2026, grounds for a €200 fixed payment notice after two letters. The Review Exemption covers one thing only, a substantial change in the nature of the accommodation under section 19(5A). The Setting Exemption covers the section 19(5) grounds for a new tenancy. Repairs after a tenant damaged the home are not a substantial change; the adjudicator in O’Sheehan said so and the High Court left it standing.
The tenant’s form
The Calculation of Overpaid Rent started life as an RPZ form and still does the arithmetic a tenant needs: the rent as last lawfully set, each increase since, the maximum the cap allowed at each step, and the monthly difference added up. It is not filed on its own; it goes with a dispute application, or in a letter to the landlord first. Our Rent Check Report fills it from the register and the CSO index where the figures show an overpayment.
The dispute application
One online form for everything: rent above the cap, rent above market, an invalid notice, a deposit, a notice of termination. Mediation is free; adjudication costs €30; an appeal to a tribunal €85. Deadlines depend on the complaint: a valid notice with a wrong figure must be disputed before the new rent starts or within 28 days of receiving the notice, whichever is later (section 22(3)); an invalid notice or a rent above market rent can be raised at any time by a sitting tenant. How a rent dispute works goes through the process and what to attach.