The new RTB website - an improvement? Really?

thenuisance · 22-03-2026 11:00PM #1

A few years ago we had a local effort to count how many houses were rentals, how many owner-occupied , how many vacant etc. Somebody did it for each area and co-ordinated by asking long term residents on the streets. It was done again after covid and that time the RTB was used as the basis for the count. Part of it was to see what proportion of the rental properties were registered. The figures were pretty close as far as I remember. Last year I did a count myself and this year I did a count again to see if the new legislation was having any impact.

The figures for rentals in the 433 houses involved were 91 in the original survey 86 in 2024, 85 in 2025 and 84 in 2026 - between 2025 and 2026 11 rentals were sold and 10 new rentals were added so there was a turnover.

That's all kind of beside the point. I thought that with the new RTB website it would be good to add the rental values to the figures i.e. how were rents changing in the area. So I thought I'd recollect this years data - for the few streets involved it would be too difficult. It seems to be more difficult than I expected - I assumed that it would be as it was before except with a column for the rent. In the previous version I could type in a street and it would list all the properties that were rented on that street and the number of units. Now it seems I have to enter an address and I well get a simple Yes or No as to whether it is registered. So to find out which houses are rentals I have to enter every address on the street and see whether I get a yes or a no. The rent is not shown. You can get a selection of random selected rents by pretending to be a landlord and entering a whole lot of information about your property (https://rtb.ie/rtb-rent-register/).

Have I missed something here - is there a nice simple page where I can enter a street name and see what houses are rented on that street and how much the rent is? The PPR does this perfectly well.

mrslancaster · 23-03-2026 07:01AM

In the previous version I could type in a street and it would list all the properties that were rented on that street and the number of units.

Always thought it was strange that property addresses were on a public register that anyone could look at. It’s not really anyone else’s business if the people living in a house are tenants or owners. That information is personal to those individuals and wanting to know someone else’s rent is being very nosey. It’s right that the information is no longer published, I’d say it was against gdpr rules anyway.

Don’t agree with sold prices for individual addresses being visible on the PPR either. GDPR is supposed to protect personal data. If someone wants to know how much houses or apartments in a particular road, estate, or general area sold for, then anonymised data provides that. Historical prices are not very useful anyway as they’re probably out of date compared to current asking prices.

thenuisance · 24-03-2026 12:36AM

For me the issue is transparency. I do get pissed off with Daft etc quoting 'average rents' etc when they are basing their figures on asking rents. If you're renting the most valuable figure is the actual rent paid for a property similar to one that they are looking to rent - no tenant gives a ***** about their rent being published - I'm not even sure why landlords would be concerned. In exactly the same way that anybody buying a house wants to know what houses that they are interested in are sold for. It's not about nosiness - it's about having pricing information when you are about to make a financial decision.

By the way GDPR doesn't have any bearing on this - GDPR covers personal identifying data - a property address does not identify an individual - neither the PPR or the RTB data include anybody's name.

mrslancaster · 24-03-2026 02:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124336072#Comment_124336072

Call it whatever you like, it’s weird and pure nosiness wanting to know whether a house in your area is owned or rented and how much rent people pay. Should the owned properties be obliged to publish their mortgage payments or if they paid cash for their property?
How could you possibly know that none of the 300k tenants in the country don’t care that their rent is published 🤣🤣. And as for an address not being personal data that could identify an individual, well now that’s just silly.

Another thing to bear in mind if you’re house hunting, it doesn’t matter what someone paid for a similar property 18 months ago, the asking price is what the vendor wants for their property now.

Mrs OBumble · 24-03-2026 04:06PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124336072#Comment_124336072

GDPR is totally relevant: residential address is Personally Identifying Information.

thenuisance · 25-03-2026 08:53PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124337424#Comment_124337424

« And as for an address not being personal data that could identify an individual, well now that’s just silly.»

Ah well , thats it then - an open and shut case. You should probably tell the Data Commissioner

MadeInKerry · 30-03-2026 05:21PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124340681#Comment_124340681

😀 They have a point though. Nothing better than an address to identify someone except maybe a name. No, an address is even better than a name. A name might be common and not individually identify you. your address will.

Claw Hammer · 31-03-2026 06:01PM

The purchase price of every residential property sold in the last 15 years is online. Every property sold since 2011 has to be registered with the Land Registry. If there is a charge to a bank, that will be registered on the folio and can be accessed by anybody who likes on payment of €5.00.

mrslancaster · 31-03-2026 11:01PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124353948#Comment_124353948

I’m aware that there’s information about property sales online. There’s no reason that sales prices for a particular road or street can’t be anonymised so buyers can see the selling history for the area. Publishing individual addresses is excessive.

thenuisance · 01-04-2026 12:12AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124351404#Comment_124351404

So - this is in breach of GDPR?

https://www.daft.ie/for-rent/house-25-clonshaugh-heights-dublin-17-clonshaugh-dublin-17/6534116

Mrs OBumble · 01-04-2026 12:18AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124340681#Comment_124340681

The DPC is well aware: https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/dpc-guidance/what-is-personal-data

And has been for quite some time: https://www.thejournal.ie/data-protection-report-1461038-May2014/

Claw Hammer · 02-04-2026 04:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124354676#Comment_124354676

Houses in some areas vary a lot in size and quality. Average prices in an area are of little use as a guide to potential purchasers. Houses in places like Drumcondra or Glasnevin in Dublin vary from small old cottages, ex council houses to large old decrepit period houses to large fully renovated period houses. Knowing the average price on a road or street is not much help in establishing a value for any house offered for sale.

mrslancaster · 03-04-2026 05:20AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124358858#Comment_124358858

I didn’t say average prices - anonymised selling history ie, no individual house or apartment number. The road or street name, sq mtr, house or apartment would give a buyer a good indication even with a mix of dwelling types, eg a range of X to Y are prices for a particular estate or area. Imo.
Knowing how much someone paid for their house or the rent they were paying two years ago doesn’t really help when it’s the current amount that is important for a buyer or a renter. I’m not sure there’s much point in telling an EA that you’ve checked the PPR and the house they’re asking 600k for today, was sold for 450k two years ago.

Claw Hammer · 03-04-2026 04:17PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124359865#Comment_124359865

The sq mtr is no help in older estates. Some houses have an A rating with expensive upgrades and others have an F rating and are decades out of date. A 2 yr old figure is a help if it was known what the house was like at the time.

The new RTB website - an improvement? Really?

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