Councillors warn upcoming tenancy reforms could collapse Mayo’s rental market
Upcoming changes to Ireland’s rental laws are already having an impact in Mayo, with councillors warning the new legislation could “collapse” the rental market in smaller towns and rural areas.
From March 1, 2026, new Tenancy of Minimum Duration (TMD) rules will come into effect, giving renters a minimum tenancy contract of six years, once they have lived in a property for six months without receiving a termination notice. These tenancies will then continue to roll over every six years.
Local representatives say uncertainty over the changes has already caused an exodus of landlords from the Mayo market, and some added they have seen a surge of constituents being forced to move as landlords react to the upcoming legislation.
Figures from the final quarter of 2025 show that 30pc of house sales in Mayo were due to landlords leaving the market, a trend that estate agents say is being driven by both retirement and concerns over the upcoming regulation.
The new rules draw a clear distinction between smaller landlords, those with three or fewer properties, and larger landlords, who own four or more.
Landlords with four or more properties will only be able to end a tenancy in limited circumstances, for example, where a tenant is not meeting their obligations, or where the property is no longer suitable for the tenant’s living situation.
They will not be able to end a tenancy in order to sell the property, to move in either a family member or themselves, to renovate the property, or change the use of the it.
Smaller landlords will have slightly more flexibility during the six-year TMD. They will be able to end a tenancy if they or a close family member need to live in the property, if they are facing financial difficulty and need to sell up, if the property is no longer suitable for the tenant’s needs, or if the tenant is not meeting their obligations.
At the end of the six-year TMD period, smaller landlords will be able to end a tenancy for additional reasons, including selling the property or refurbishing or renovating it.
Tenants will not be tied into the TMD contract and can end their tenancy at any time by providing written notice and the required notice period.
Concerns about the impact of the changes were raised at a recent meeting of Mayo County Council, where councillors described a wave of landlords leaving the market across the county.
Cllr Michael Burke, an auctioneer based in Ballinrobe, told the meeting he is seeing the effects first-hand.
“The new government guidelines on the rental market are having a very negative impact,” he said.
Cllr Burke said he has dealt with prospective buyers who walked away from property purchases due to uncertainty over whether they would be able to operate in the rental market under the incoming rules.
“It is a terrible idea, it is driving the small-time operators out,” he said.
He warned that larger institutional investors are unlikely to fill the gap in Mayo’s smaller towns.
“We are not going to get the Canadian funds here, or Bluestar or those companies - they will go to Dublin or to Galway and the big cities. They won’t come into our towns to buy a place, do it up and rent it,” he said.
“You can get a bad tenant, and you can be left with them for a very long time,” he explained, and told the meeting of a case he had come across recently where a landlord lost €20,000 removing a tenant from a property.
“Who wants that? I have 15 people who are going to be put out of their houses over the next couple of weeks,” he warned.
Cllr Burke said that action must be taken, and urged the Government to make a U-turn on the decision, otherwise “the rental market in our small towns will collapse.”
His concerns were echoed by Cllr Gerry Coyle, who said his constituency in Erris has seen a steady loss of small landlords, leaving tenants increasingly desperate for accommodation.
“I have never, in all the time in the council, had so many calls from people who have to move out of their place - it's outrageous,” he said.
Cllr Chris Maxwell, who represents the Louisburgh area, said the situation is worsening by the day.
He told the meeting that in his area alone, a dozen people were having to move out of their homes as landlords respond to the impending rule changes.
Calling for immediate political intervention, he said pressure needs to be put on the Government to stop the legislation from coming into effect.
“We have to get this changed immediately, and it can be done politically speaking,” he said.
“In the last week, we saw the Taoiseach capitulate to the backbenchers of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents on the Mercosur deal - and that was on a farming issue,
“We are talking about people going homeless here in our country on account of these rules that are being brought in,” he said and called for each councillor in the chamber to lobby their TD to put pressure on the Government.
“It was done last week, and it can be done again in the space of a couple of days,” he added.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.