knowledge 28 July 2026 |

Residential Tenancy Reform: Further 2026 Changes

The Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026 (the “New Act”) was signed into law on 23 July 2026. Once commenced, it will introduce additional targeted amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (the “2004 Act”). It is separate from the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026, which was enacted earlier this year and introduced changes that took effect from 1 March 2026.

What is changing?

At a high level, the New Act will:

strengthen enforcement by increasing penalties and extending certain prosecution time limits;
adjust certain landlord notification obligations to the RTB;
introduce fixed payment notice regimes, alongside staged notice procedures, in respect of rent-setting and rent-review offences, landlord information obligations to the RTB, and registration and particulars-updating offences;
extend the scope of the ‘slip rule’ (an existing power to cure a non-prejudicial defect in a notice of termination), in particular so that it will also cover a statement or statutory declaration accompanying the notice;
lengthen certain termination-related notice periods, including an extension of the maximum termination notice period where the tenancy concerned is less than six months;
make changes to RTB dispute resolution and evidence-gathering procedures;
broaden the RTB's inspection and enforcement powers, including a new District Court warrant procedure for entry where access has been refused; and
exclude certain detached “rear garden” dwellings from the 2004 Act where statutory conditions are met.

The New Act is not yet in force. We will monitor the commencement process and provide further updates as the implementation timeline becomes clearer. This further piece of residential tenancy legislation reflects a real pace of change in this area.

While this note focuses on the changes to the 2004 Act, the New Act is broader in scope. In particular, it introduces statutory lawful and habitual residency requirements for both social housing eligibility and access to homeless services, and establishes new local authority appeals mechanisms, each decided by an appeals officer required to be independent in the performance of their functions.

This content has been prepared by McCann FitzGerald LLP for general guidance only and should not be regarded as a substitute for professional advice. Such advice should always be taken before acting on any of the matters discussed.