How long can a tenant stay in Ireland? After 6 months in the same home, usually for as long as you want, unless the landlord has one of a short list of legal reasons. Irish tenant rights call this security of tenure, or a Part 4 tenancy. What the list looks like depends on two things: the date your tenancy started, and, for tenancies from 1 March 2026, how many tenancies your landlord has.
The first 6 months
During the first 6 months a landlord can end a tenancy without a reason, unless you have a fixed-term lease. It still takes a written notice of termination with at least 90 days’ notice, and since 14 September 2026 a copy must reach the RTB within 7 days. Our notice of termination guide covers what that notice must say.
Security of tenure starts when you have lived in the home continuously for 6 months and the landlord has not served a valid notice of termination in that time (RTB). From that day the landlord needs a legal reason.
Which rules apply to you
| Tenancy started | Landlord | How long you can stay | Reasons the landlord can use |
|---|---|---|---|
| From 1 March 2026 | 4 or more tenancies, or any company | Unlimited duration | Breach (including arrears); home no longer suits your needs. Nothing else. |
| From 1 March 2026 | 1 to 3 tenancies | Rolling 6-year cycles (tenancy of minimum duration) | During a cycle: breach, unsuitability, sale because of hardship, landlord or close family moving in. At the end of a cycle also: sale, wider family, refurbishment, change of use. |
| 11 June 2022 to 28 February 2026 | Any | Unlimited duration | Breach, unsuitability, sale within 9 months, landlord or family moving in (private landlords), substantial refurbishment, change of use. |
| 25 December 2016 to 10 June 2022 | Any | 6-year Part 4 cycle, then unlimited | The same six reasons during the cycle, and no reason at all at the end of it. |
The landlord’s size is counted on the day a notice of termination is served, so a landlord who sells two of four homes can move into the small group. Close family, for a small landlord ending a tenancy mid-cycle, means only a spouse, civil partner, child, step, foster or adopted child, parent, step-parent or parent-in-law. Hardship for a sale has a narrow meaning: the landlord, spouse or civil partner needs the money to buy their own main home, to repay a debt (or pay 15% or more of the asking price) due within 9 months of the tenancy end, or because of insolvency.
After 6 years
For a tenancy that began between 25 December 2016 and 10 June 2022, the end of the 6-year Part 4 cycle is the one moment a landlord can end it without giving a reason. If the landlord lets that date pass, the tenancy becomes unlimited. The RTB says every such cycle will have run out by 11 June 2028, and from then on all these tenancies are unlimited.
For a tenancy from 1 March 2026 with a small landlord, the 6-year mark opens four extra reasons: the landlord wants to sell, needs the home for a wider circle of family (the list adds grandchildren, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces), plans substantial refurbishment, or plans a change of use. The notice must be served before the cycle ends and give an end date on or after it. If the landlord does not act, a new 6-year cycle starts and the short list applies again.
Fixed-term leases and the exceptions
A one-year lease does not cut these rights short. Part 4 runs alongside it. While the fixed term lasts, the landlord can only end it early for a breach. When it expires you can stay on under Part 4; to do so, tell the landlord between 3 months and 1 month before the end date.
A few lettings sit outside Part 4 entirely: student specific accommodation, lettings tied to your job, a room in the owner’s home, and a home split from a single dwelling where the landlord lives in the other half and gave written notice before you moved in. Since 27 July 2026 there is one more. A garden unit placed on or after that date under the new planning exemption, behind a house that is the owner’s main home, does not come under the RTB at all (RTB, garden housing units). A garden unit already there before 27 July 2026, or built without the exemption, is a normal tenancy.
What security of tenure does not cover
It protects your stay, not the price. The landlord can still review the rent once every 12 months, by no more than 2% a year or inflation, whichever is lower, with 90 days’ notice (our guide on yearly increases has the detail). If a review notice arrives, check it before the 90 days are up: the rent check compares it with the register and the limit. And if your landlord ever tries to end the tenancy for a reason your row of the table does not list, do not move out: dispute the notice with the RTB within 90 days.