RPZ Rent Increase Over the Limit — What the RTB Decides (2022–2026 Outcomes)

What is a Rent Pressure Zone and what's the cap?

Rent Pressure Zones are areas — currently encompassing most urban centres and their surrounds — where annual rent increases are capped. The current cap is 2% per year (since November 2021), or the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) inflation rate, whichever is lower.

In practice: if your rent was €1,500 per month and your landlord wants to raise it, the maximum new rent in an RPZ is €1,530 (2% increase). Any amount above that is unlawful in an RPZ.

How to check if you're in an RPZ

The RTB publishes a Rent Pressure Zone map at rtb.ie. Most of Dublin city, Cork city, Galway city, Limerick city, and a growing number of surrounding towns and areas are designated RPZs. The designation is reviewed and extended periodically.

How to calculate the maximum increase

The formula is: current rent × (1 + the applicable HICP cap). The RTB website has a calculator. If your landlord has given you a rent increase notice, you can calculate the legal maximum yourself and compare it to what they're asking.

If the difference is more than a few euro, it's worth filing a dispute. The average excess in the corpus was data not yet available — coming in our next release above the permitted cap.

What the RTB decides in RPZ breach cases

How often do tenants win?

In the corpus, tenants who challenged RPZ breaches succeeded in 73% of cases. This is notably high — higher than the success rate in most other dispute categories.

The reason: RPZ breaches are largely mathematical. Either the increase was above the cap or it wasn't. If you have your rent review notice, the previous rent, and the RPZ calculation, the case is usually straightforward. Landlords who successfully defend RPZ cases almost always do so on one of the specific statutory exceptions — not by disputing the arithmetic.

How much do tenants get back?

The RTB can order repayment of the excess rent paid, calculated from the date the unlawful increase took effect. If you've been paying above the RPZ cap for twelve months, you're entitled to twelve months of the excess.

• Average refund in the corpus: €3,073
• Median refund: €1,423
• Maximum refund in the dataset: €32,911

The maximum refund arose in a case where the excess was significant (over 20% above the cap) and had been running for more than a year before the dispute was filed. The longer the unlawful increase runs before you challenge it, the more is potentially owed to you — but file sooner rather than later, because the RTB's refund order typically runs from the date of filing, not from the start of the unlawful increase.

What counts as evidence of an RPZ breach

To bring a successful RPZ dispute, you need to show:

1. The previous rent — what you were paying before the increase notice
2. The increase notice — in writing, showing the new proposed rent
3. That the property is in an RPZ — a screenshot of the RTB map showing the property's location is usually sufficient
4. That the increase exceeds the cap — the RTB calculation showing the maximum permitted rent

That's all the RTB needs. You do not need a solicitor. You do not need a valuation. You do not need to prove intent — your landlord doesn't need to have known they were over the cap for the excess to be unlawful.

The most common landlord defences — and how they fare

Three statutory exceptions to the RPZ cap exist. Landlords who successfully defended an RPZ case in the corpus almost always relied on one of these.

“The previous rent was below market” exception

If the previous rent was set at below the market rate (for example, a long-standing tenancy where rent was never reviewed), the landlord can apply to the RTB for an exemption. This requires a formal application — not just a statement. The RTB has declined exemption applications where the landlord simply claimed the old rent was “too low” without evidence.

“There were substantial improvements” exception

Landlords who carried out substantial improvements to the property (structural work, extension, major renovation) can apply for an exemption. The threshold for “substantial” is set by regulation and requires specific evidence. Routine maintenance and redecoration do not qualify.

New tenancy after a vacancy

Where a property has been genuinely vacant and a new tenancy is created (not a renewal or continuation of an existing tenancy), different rules apply. Some landlords attempt to use a nominal vacancy — a few days between tenants — to reset the rent. The RTB has scrutinised this pattern, and the corpus shows that artificially short vacancies designed to circumvent the RPZ rules are not accepted as genuine new tenancies.

How to file an RPZ dispute with the RTB

You can file a dispute with the RTB online at rtb.ie. The dispute type is “rent review” or “RPZ breach”. You'll need to pay a small filing fee (currently €15 for the online process). You'll then receive a case reference and scheduling information for your adjudication.

File as soon as you become aware of the breach — the RTB typically calculates refund liability from the date the dispute is filed, not the date the unlawful increase began.

RPZ breach cases: year by year