Cost rental housing

What is cost rental?

Cost rental housing provides affordable homes to people in moderate-income households.

These households may experience financial difficulty getting or paying for housing.

Who provides cost rental tenancies?

Any owner of a residential property can apply to have it designated as a cost rental property.

This could be:

  • Private owners
  • Local authorities
  • Approved Housing Bodies
  • The Land Development Agency

Registration of cost rental tenancies

Cost rental tenancies must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). This must be done within one month of the tenancy start date. The tenancy must be re-registered every year for as long as the tenancy lasts.

Find out how to register a cost rental tenancy with the RTB.

Tenant rights in cost rental tenancies

After living in a cost rental property continuously for 6 months without being served a valid Notice of Termination within that period, you have security of tenure.

For tenancies that started on or after 11 June 2022, this means you have the right to stay in the property indefinitely.

The landlord can only end the tenancy on these limited grounds:

  • The tenant has broken the rules of their tenancy
  • The property is no longer suitable for the needs of the tenants or the people living with them. For example, there aren’t enough beds or space for the number of people.

Read more about ending a cost rental tenancy.

Making a property a cost rental

Any owner of a residential property can apply to have it designated as a cost rental property. They must apply to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to designate a property a cost rental.

The application should include the details in Schedule 1. You can make one application for multiple properties.

Setting and reviewing rent

There are specific rules when setting and reviewing the rent in cost rental tenancies.

Initial rent is set based on costs of developing, managing and maintaining the home over a minimum of 40 years.

Rent reviews can happen once a year. They cannot happen in the first 12 months of the tenancy.

Rent reviews use a formula linked to inflation. This is based on the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Your landlord must give you a Notice of Rent Review in advance.

Tenants can dispute rent increases through the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) dispute resolution process.

Repair and maintenance

Landlords are responsible for keeping cost rental properties in good condition and meeting minimum housing standards.

Tenants should report any repairs or maintenance issues to the landlord as soon as possible.

Subletting and assignment

Cost rental tenants cannot sublet or transfer their tenancy to another person. You can only add or remove tenants with the landlord’s permission.

Read more about subletting and assignment.