Rent reform: Tenants and landlords alike are let down by new residential tenancies bill

Labour's housing spokesman says the the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 will spook small landlords into leaving the market, while failing to protect tenants

'A system that cannot be clearly explained to tenants will not protect them in practice.' Stock picture

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are once again tinkering around the edges of a housing emergency while claiming to deliver reform.

To date, housing minister James Browne is presiding over record-breaking levels of homelessness, a legislative agenda that looks at planning permissions for back garden bedrooms alone, and tax breaks for developers while working people are priced out of the housing market entirely.