How to Register - Post/Online

Annual Registration 

Taking effect from 04 April 2022, a landlord is obliged to apply to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) to register a tenancy - or a licence in Student Specific Accommodation (SSA) - within 1 month of its commencement date and every year after this, on the anniversary of the date the tenancy began, for so long as the tenancy/SSA licence exists.  

For existing tenancies, from 04 April 2022, each year on the anniversary of the date the tenancy began, landlords must re-register that tenancy on an annual basis, for so long as the tenancy/SSA licence exists.

Information on Annual Registration is available here. Please see re-registering an existing tenancy for more information.

Register a Tenancy Online

The most efficient way to register your tenancy is by using the RTB’s online account system.

Please note, first name, surname, PPS number and Date of Birth details for any individual, used when registering a tenancy, must match the information on Department of Social protection documents (such as Public Services cards). 

Setting up an online account is a simple process. To find out more information about using the RTB's online account visit RTB's Online Account Information Hub. 

The following information is required by the RTB in order to register a tenancy: 

• Rented Dwelling Address.  

• Dwelling Type (i.e. Whole of House/Apartment/Flat Bedrooms.)  

• Eircode. 

• Bedspaces & Number of Occupants.  

• Approximate Floor Area in Square Metres.  

• BER Cert Rating (if applicable).  

• Local Authority in which rented dwelling is located.  

• Tenancy Commencement Date.  

• Private Landlord: Full name/ address/ PPSN/Date of Birth. 

• Company Landlord: Registered company name / CRO number. 

• Tenant Name/ PPSN (Not mandatory) 

• Authorised Agent (if applicable) Name/ Address/ CRO number/ PPSN    

• Management Company (if applicable) Name/ Address/ CRO number. 

Landlords are not required to input their tenants’ PPSN or Date of Birth in order to complete the registration process. However, the RTB would strongly encourage landlords to provide PPSNs should a tenancy dispute arise in future.  

Online payment can be made via the following methods: 

• Debit or Credit Card. 

• PayPal. 

• Payments under €4,000 can be made by EFT via SEPA (Bank transfer).  

For more details on fees payable please visit Registration fees.  

Eircode Requirement 

The RTB now require all landlords registering a new tenancy or completing an annual registration to have the correct Eircode for the tenancy/dwelling being registered. This change has been made to ensure that the same dwelling is not registered twice and to improve the accuracy of our registration data. You will be able to search for the correct Eircode during the online registration process.  

This new update to our system will not allow two dwellings with the same Eircode to be registered without being submitted to the RTB for review. 

Before creating a new tenancy or completing an annual registration we advise all landlords to:  

• Ensure any previous tenancy at the dwelling on the system is ended before creating a new one. This can be done in the Manage Registration section of your online account.  

• Ensure you have the correct Eircode for the dwelling being registered. 

NOTE: You will not be able to make changes to your address once registered  

How to register a tenancy by post? 

Paper forms can be downloaded here or by clicking 'Tenancy Registration Application (RTB1) Form at the bottom of this page. Completed forms can be sent by post to Residential Tenancies Board, PO Box 47, Clonakilty, County Cork, or can be scanned and emailed to registrations@rtb.ie. 

The RTB would like to remind all applicants if you are submitting a registration application by post, a fully completed Registration Application Form RTB1 is required. This applies to both new registrations and annual registration renewals. Should a registration payment be received and not accompanied by a fully completed RTB1 Form, the registration application cannot be processed. 

Please note, older versions of the RTB1 form will not be accepted and the most up-to-date version of the form must be used. The appropriate version of the form can be downloaded on this page under 'Related Downloads'.  

Student Specific Accommodation 

Registration rules vary for Student Specific Accommodation. Please note that the RTB online account tenancy registration system and RTB 1 paper form will not be available to register these tenancies for the academic year 2023/24. 

Confirmation Letters

Once the tenancy registration has been fully processed by the RTB and paid in full by the landlord/agent, both landlord and tenant(s) will receive a letter confirming that the tenancy has been registered. Letters of confirmation are issued by e-mail or post, depending on the preferred method of communication chosen by the landlord/agent.  Confirmation letters for tenants are typically issued via post, unless the RTB receives a request by the tenant to issue confirmation letters via email. Tenancy confirmation letters are important documents and should be kept in a safe place, as landlords and tenants may need to refer to these documents during the tenancy or after the tenancy has ended. 

Landlords may use the confirmation letter as a receipt for payment of the registration fee where appropriate. Landlords may be requested to provide this confirmation letter to the Revenue Commissioners when seeking mortgage interest relief on residential properties. Tenants may require proof of their tenancy for a number of State Agencies, and the confirmation letter may be required for this purpose.  

Exempt Properties 

The RTB remit does not extend to: 

• Tenancies in local authority housing or under shared ownership lease arrangements. 

• Holiday letting agreements. 

• The Rent a Room scheme (where the landlord and the tenant share the same self-contained property). 

• Instances where a tenant lives with the spouse, civil partner, parent or child of the landlord and there is no written letting agreement in place. 

• Properties which are short term lets. 

There are further rare examples under the Landlord and Tenant (Ground Rents) Act 1978 and Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1980 when dwellings may be exempted, for example: 

• Where a rented dwelling that may, in certain situations, be purchased by the tenant to take ownership of. 

• Where a tenant may apply for a new tenancy on the ending of an earlier tenancy, if they can show long occupation or they have spent money on improvements of the property. 

Licences  

Typically, most licence arrangements do not come under the remit of the RTB. The naming of a licence as such does not necessarily mean that it is not regarded as operating as a tenancy for the purposes of the RTB.  

A licence is usually said to exist where a person is: 

• Staying in a hotel, guesthouse or hostel. 

• Sharing with the owner in Rent a Room / digs accommodation. 

• Staying in rented accommodation at the invitation of the tenant. 

Multiple dwellings at same address   

If you are a landlord of numerous flatted dwellings in the one building where there is currently only one Eircode for the building, we would ask that you contact GeoDirectory.ie to request an Eircode to be assigned for each individual apartment/flatted dwelling. 

Alternatively, if you complete a registration for one of the dwellings online, the system will recognise that the Eircode is already registered, and you will have to submit the application to the RTB for review. You will not be able to complete your registration online until the RTB review is complete.