First time renting out a house

mkcoval · 15-01-2026 03:38PM #1

I'm going to become first time landlord and wanted to ask for advice.

Originally wanted to rent out the whole 5-bedroom house under standard tenancy agreement with RTB registration. After reading all forums and recommendations I'm thinking of keeping one room for me (or closest family) so renting out remaining 4 rooms would be under license agreement. My biggest fear is that tenants will stop paying the rent and the whole process of eviction involving RTB dispute and court would take years. Having license agreement should shorten that time - but how much, to couple of months? Do you have some experience? Also thinking of leaving the country at some stage and just keeping the room unoccupied and closed - would that also allow me to have license agreement with tenants? How would you organise then paying the bills - still include landlord? Can I still use letting agent to screen tenants and prepare license agreement? I have asked couple of rent agencies and they all only want to rent the whole house.

MadeInKerry · 15-01-2026 03:52PM

Doesnt work that way unless you live in the house. If there is a dispute it wont be hard for the tenants to show you dont actually live there. Familiarize yourself with the new rules coming in. And be aware you might never get your property back after you rent it. Askaboutmoney has a lot of in depth analysis on the new rules. Worth a read. The discussion is a lot less emotional than here.

Just to let you know how long it takes, I have a friend who is 4 years trying to get someone out of their house. They had missed a few months rent here and there and werent paying the rent owed, so were asked to leave, then stopped paying the rent altogether 3 years ago.

o1s1n · 15-01-2026 03:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058431170/first-time-renting-out-a-house

If you want to do the licensee thing, you need to live there and then the regular RTB eviction process does not apply as the licensees are 'guests' in your home. Can turf them out whenever.

Again, to restate, it has to be your home where you live.

SupaCat95 · 24-01-2026 09:03AM

As the same with the previous posters. Owning and operating a rental property has drastically changed in 20 years. The property cris has made people on both sides unreasonable. I think it is a quick way to beat a path to the solicitors office and an early grave. Have a look at the market and many former small landlords are selling out ASAP. Look at legislation proposed for the current Dail. It would not be for me.

rightmove · 24-01-2026 09:23AM

With gov attitude to small landlords and resultant legislation I would never again rent out a property

wildwillow · 24-01-2026 02:24PM

Think very carefully before you commit to being a landlord. You must reside in the property to qualify for the tenants being licensees. The plan you have makes you a landlord. You will have to register with the RTB. Look at the proposed new legislation. You literally are giving up any rights to your property for 6 years minimum. My advice is don't do it.

steinbock123 · 24-01-2026 02:56PM

I got out 18 months ago.
Happier out than in.

SupaCat95 · 24-01-2026 05:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124175131#Comment_124175131

That is the idea, the charities, NGOs and Local authorities control the lot from now on. The next generation the home owners will be forced out with taxation.

MadeInKerry · 26-01-2026 10:53AM

I posted this in another thread, but it might apply OP.

Have a think.

I was helping my brother decide whether to sell up or brave the new rules the last few month. During that time I quizzed everyone I even vaguely knew who had a rental property and researched it all over the web for him to help him come to am answer.

But during that research I heard a great analogy from a friend who was selling his house that he has had rented out for the last 20 years. I asked him would he not just keep it rented and he said no that he was evicting to sell because the incoming rules had made him think of the figures. Here is what he explained to me in the way he explained it.

The house was in Westmeath and he built it to live in but ended up moving to Frankfurt for work and never moved back to the house even when he came to Dublin to work so kept renting it.

House was worth at least 600k if sold in the morning.

Mortgage was nearly paid off. I think he said about 20k left on it.

He was getting just over €1000 pm last year and could only raise by 2% per year.

He is his funny analogy.

At his age, 55 years old, If you have over half a million euro on the back seat of a Car with the doors locked. Someone gives you €1000 per month to hold on to that car, but you have to pay for their tax, insurance, maintenance etc too. And you can never ever use the car yourself. You can go up to it and look in the windows at your half a million euros. So you half to buy and maintain another car for yourself to use too.

What would you do? Stop taking the €1000 per month so you could take your half a million euro back for yourself to spend or invest or even give away? Or keep taking the €1000 per month and only be able to look in the window at the half million until you decide to sell it in the future?

The half mil might increase or even decrease a bit over the next few years, you dont know which, but hopefully increase by a bit. Tax and insurance are only going up. What do you do? I know what I would do.

DayInTheBog · 26-01-2026 10:57AM

I'm not a landlord but looking at what's going on in the market I could only give piece of advice.

Sell your house now and don't even think of renting it.

Caranica · 26-01-2026 07:47PM

Getting out was one of the happiest days of my life. Wouldn't recommend being a small landlord to my worst enemy

lawrencesummers · 26-01-2026 07:59PM

if I was you I would sell and invest that money elsewhere.

but if your going to rent and thinking of moving get a letting agency (deductible expense) and insist that your allowed to vet the candidates - find out where they work.

Then don’t charge ridiculous rent, if you make it unaffordable then you can be forcing people into a bad situation where they can’t pay, and that can cost more than trying to squeeze every penny from the rental income.

redarmyblues · 02-02-2026 02:53PM

Sell and drip the funds into your pension as tax efficiently as you can.

Beachcomber1097 · 04-02-2026 04:14PM

My advice, rent to a company if you can.

Much easier ! I have 2 properties rented, through an estate agent, to companies as opposed to private rented to people. Usually a company houses staff in them and so far for the last 3 years I have not had an issue at all.

MadeInKerry · 04-02-2026 06:49PM

The new legislation has just been published. If I were a potential landlord I would try to understand that legislation and when you inevitably find it too complicated and draining to get your head around, then decide if you want to rent your property out or just sell it and be done with the headache.

JVince · 04-02-2026 07:26PM

simply not enough info from the OP for any good advice.

If there are no plans to live in the property in the future and the OP sees it as a long term investment and has good income and decent pension, then renting can make sense. Rent can be at market rent and increased by up to 2% each year for 6 years and then reset again at what the market rent is then. Very similar to how commercial leases work.

If however this is a property that has been resided in for several years as their main home and it has increased in value and current pension not huge and the OP earns enough to be oaying high rate tax - then its a no-brainer to sell (any new or old rental regulations would make no difference to such a decision)

Currently (assuming it your main home for past few years) any "profit" from the sale of the house is entirely tax free. But once you start renting it, capital gains tax starts coming into the equation. EG if it was bought in 2016 for €200k and is now valued at 400k, zero capital gains tax is due, but if you rent it for 6 years and then sell it and it is valued at €440k in 2032, then 33% of the increase in value from 2016 would be subject to CGT - €26,000 tax liability on top of tax paid on rental income!

2. If you are paying high rate tax but not maximising pension contributions. Sell the property. Put money into a best possible interest account (about 2.4%) and drip feed it into your current account at the same time as maximising pension contributions. EG is 2,000 a month is subject to high rate tax (€1050 net to you after prsi usc & tax), put this 2k a month into pension and pay 1200 from the property deposit into your account.

I really think you need a good accountant to look at this from different angles and find what suits your overall situation

JVince · 04-02-2026 07:28PM

simply not enough info from the OP for any good advice.

If there are no plans to live in the property in the future and the OP sees it as a long term investment and has good income and decent pension, then renting can make sense. Rent can be at market rent and increased by up to 2% each year for 6 years and then reset again at what the market rent is then. Very similar to how commercial leases work.

If however this is a property that has been resided in for several years as their main home and it has increased in value and current pension not huge and the OP earns enough to be oaying high rate tax - then its a no-brainer to sell (any new or old rental regulations would make no difference to such a decision)

Currently (assuming it your main home for past few years) any "profit" from the sale of the house is entirely tax free. But once you start renting it, capital gains tax starts coming into the equation. EG if it was bought in 2016 for €200k and is now valued at 400k, zero capital gains tax is due, but if you rent it for 6 years and then sell it and it is valued at €440k in 2032, then 33% of the increase in value from 2016 would be subject to CGT - €26,000 tax liability on top of tax paid on rental income!

2. If you are paying high rate tax but not maximising pension contributions. Sell the property. Put money into a best possible interest account (about 2.4%) and drip feed it into your current account at the same time as maximising pension contributions. EG is 2,000 a month is subject to high rate tax (€1050 net to you after prsi usc & tax), put this 2k a month into pension and pay 1200 from the property deposit into your account.

I really think you need a good accountant to look at this from different angles and find what suits your overall situation

mrcheez · 04-02-2026 07:34PM

Rent can be at market rent

Curious about this (I'm similar to OP that I might try out renting, but will probably just go AirBnB route or renting to companies)

Just a hypothetical question: When setting the rent can you not choose whatever price you want? Say other houses in the area are 1,500 per month, can I set mine to something higher (€2,500 or €3,000) if I choose and thus the 2% per year increase isn't that much of an issue as I'm already getting more than I'd ever want?

Also why not just rent to foreign nursing students or someone similar that will have a definitive limited time in the country and no risk of being bogged down with unpaying tenants?

Rocket_GD · 04-02-2026 07:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124206222#Comment_124206222

If it’s a first time rental, you can set the price at whatever you’d like to.

Why would someone choose your property at 1k more than the other one on the road though?

mrcheez · 04-02-2026 08:56PM

Why would someone choose your property at 1k more than the other one on the road though?

Scarcity pricing? Is there not a shortage of places to rent? Hence prices go up as with any commodity?

Rocket_GD · 05-02-2026 12:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124206412#Comment_124206412

Yes there are but people aren't stupid. If the average in an area is €1.5k they're not going to pay €3k, they'll just look somewhere else. It's not that insane of a market (yet).

mrcheez · 05-02-2026 02:17PM

Sure, Like I say it's a hypothetical example but you could set a marginally higher price of 2,000 per month where everyone else is 1,500 and you will eventually get someone who will rent it plus it will lessen impact of the 2% annual price limit

Beachcomber1097 · 05-02-2026 03:58PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124208000#Comment_124208000

In theory, you could.

However, 2K for a one bed ( i assume) granny flat at the back of your house? where you dont seem to want couples or people who cook?

If you find a tennant for that, will you send them my way also, I have a few houses in Munster I would love that type of tennent for.

mrcheez · 05-02-2026 06:50PM

However, 2K for a one bed ( i assume) granny flat at the back of your house? where you dont seem to want couples or people who cook?

lol what?

Thargor · 17-02-2026 09:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124181102#Comment_124181102

At his age, 55 years old, If you have over half a million euro on the back seat of a Car with the doors locked. Someone gives you €1000 per month to hold on to that car, but you have to pay for their tax, insurance, maintenance etc too. And you can never ever use the car yourself. You can go up to it and look in the windows at your half a million euros. So you half to buy and maintain another car for yourself to use too.

Ha thats so true I was just thinking the exact same about my own situation in Limerick, just evicted a horrible pr1ck from my house that I have set up for rent a room tenants, first world problems and I know a lot of people have it a lot worse but its just not worth it. Id like to downsize to a luxury apartment but all the apartments in Limerick are damp, noisy Celtic Tiger crap with €4k a year bullsh1t management fees. My plan is to stick it out until Im 45 then sell everything and retire. You need your head examined dealing with tenants these days. People are animals and we are led by complete donkeys.

First time renting out a house

Answers