Tenants’ rights to stay in a rented property

What is ‘security of tenure’?

Security of tenure is a tenant’s right to stay in a rented property after an initial period.

Once a tenant has lived in a property for a continuous 6 months without a valid Notice of Termination served within that period, they have security of tenure and can only be evicted for specific legal reasons.

The amount of time you are entitled to stay in rented accommodation after the first 6 months depends on when your tenancy began.

Security of tenure is also known as Part 4 tenancy rights, referring to Part 4 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, which deals with security of tenure.

Tenancies of unlimited duration (tenancies started on or after 11 June 2022)

On 11 June 2022, tenancies of unlimited duration were introduced into law.

This means that if your tenancy began on or after 11 June 2022, you have the right to stay in the property without a set end date, once the following conditions are met:

  • You have lived in the property continuously for 6 months.
  • You have not been served with a valid Notice of Termination within that 6-month period.
  • The landlord does not have any legal reason to end the tenancy.

Part 4 tenancies (tenancies started after 24 December 2016 but before 11 June 2022)

If a tenancy began after 24 December 2016 but before 11 June 2022, old security of tenure rules apply.

Your tenancy follows a 6-year cycle:

  • After 6 months of living continuously in the property (without a valid Notice of Termination being served) you get Part 4 tenancy rights. This means you have the right to stay in the property for a further 5 ½ years, unless the tenancy is legally ended.
  • After these 6 years, the tenancy ends and a new tenancy can begin.
  • Your landlord can end the tenancy at the end of the 6-year cycle without giving a reason.
  • If the landlord does not end the tenancy at the end of this cycle, it automatically becomes a tenancy of unlimited duration.

By 11 June 2028, all tenancies will be tenancies of unlimited duration. This is because all existing 6-year cycle tenancies will have ended by then.

Part 4 tenancies started on or before 24 December 2016

For tenancies that began before 24 December 2016, after the first 6 months of the tenancy, you get the right to stay in the property for a further 3 ½ years.

These tenancies will be tenancies of unlimited duration. This is because as of 24 December 2016 the length of a ‘Part 4’ tenancy changed to 6 years.

Fixed term tenancies

A fixed term tenancy is agreed for a specific period (for example one year). However, Part 4 rights apply alongside it, meaning you still get security of tenure after 6 months of living continuously in the property (once a valid notice of termination has not been served within that period).

Even if a fixed term agreement ends, you have the right to stay in the property under Part 4 rules unless the landlord has a legal reason to end the tenancy.

If you have a fixed-term tenancy and you want to stay in the property under a Part 4 tenancy, you must notify your landlord of your intention to stay. You must notify them no earlier than 3 months and no later than one month before your fixed term agreement expires.

Special cases

Approved Housing Body (AHB) tenants

Most tenants in AHB housing have security of tenure after 6 months, except those in transitional housing (typically lasting 18 months or less).

Student specific accommodation

Security of tenure rules do not apply to student specific accommodation

Landlord lives in one of two properties that was originally a single dwelling

Security of tenure rules do not apply in the following situation:

  • The building has been divided into two separate properties but was originally a single dwelling,
  • The landlord lives in one of the two properties, and
  • Before the tenancy started, the landlord served the tenant with a notice in writing stating that Part 4 tenancy rules would not apply.

Lettings connected to employment

Security of tenure rules do not apply where your entitlement to live in the property is tied to your employment. You must leave the property when your contract of employment ends.