Can you reset to market rent?
- First letting of the home, or the home was not let in the previous two years: market rent, evidenced by comparables.
- The tenant left of their own accord, or you ended the tenancy for breach of the tenant’s obligations or because the dwelling no longer suited the tenant’s needs: market rent. These are the reasons listed in Part D of the form.
- No-fault termination (sale, family use) followed by a new letting: the previous rent plus the cap still binds. Which reasons count is in our notice of termination guide.
- Substantial refurbishment: market rent, but only if the works pass one of three tests in Part D. A permanent extension of 25% or more of the floor area; a cut of 150 kWh/m²/yr or more in primary energy between the old and the new BER; or three of five listed works (layout, disability access, more rooms, a smaller energy cut). Repairs and anything needed for minimum standards do not count.
Unsure which case is yours? The letting price report asks you to pick the reason (no tenancy in two years, tenant left, breach, dwelling no longer suited the tenant, refurbishment, or none of these). It then ticks the matching box in Part D of the notice and, where no reason applies, asks for the previous rent and caps the new figure from it. For refurbishment you type in the primary energy from both BER certificates and the floor area before an extension; the report checks the test against those figures, ticks reasons 3 to 5 when it is met and lists the certificates in Part E. The figures stay yours: the tenant can ask the RTB to look at the works.
The form
Part A: tenancy type, address, Eircode, previous and current RT numbers, start date, floor area, BER, new-development flag. Part B: new rent, last rent if any and when it was set, the date of the notice, which rule applied. Part C: three comparable tenancies with RT numbers and rents. Part D: exemption reasons and documents. Part E: documents attached. Part F: who serves it, declaration, signature.
After the tenancy starts
Register the tenancy within one month, with the rent on the notice. A sitting tenant can dispute a rent set above market rent at any time (section 19); a former tenant has 28 days from the end of the tenancy. Official guide: rtb.ie.