Housing Minister James Browne is set to ask Cabinet for the green light to draft new legislation that would designate the entire country as a rent pressure zone starting in March.
A key element of the proposed bill is the creation of a public rent register that will be available for anyone to access, reports RTE.
The new law will also introduce provisions allowing rents to be reset for tenancies that begin on or after 1 March 2026.
It will also permit rent increases in cases where a tenant voluntarily leaves or when a landlord ends a lease due to a breach of tenant obligations, reports RTE.
Under the proposals, landlords who own three or fewer tenancies will be officially categorised as small landlords.
Mr Browne is expected to tell Cabinet that the new measures will crack down on rent inflation and include rules allowing Residential Tenancies Board hearings to be held in public, reports RTE.
He also stated that his department will assess the latest AIB survey, which indicates a decline in construction sector activity.
“There is conflicting information” about the state of the industry, he said, adding that the VAT reduction for apartments announced in the Budget is expected to show positive effects within the first quarter of next year, reports RTE.
He noted that around 40,000 apartments already have planning permission and that it typically takes three to four months for developers to secure funding.
Minister Browne made the comments while launching the annual report of the approved housing body, Respond, reports RTE.
In a separate development, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke will present a memo to Cabinet outlining his department’s progress in cutting bureaucratic burdens for businesses.
He will report that a full review of Local Enterprise Office grant schemes has led to a sharp drop in the number of questions asked during the application process, reports RTE.
Mr Burke has now directed Enterprise Ireland to aim for a 24-hour turnaround time on application decisions.
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