Minister for Housing James Browne has sought Cabinet approval to draft the legislation which will make the entire country a rent pressure zone from next March.
The upcoming bill will, for the first time, establish a publicly accessible rent register.
The legislation will allow for the resetting of rents for new tenancies that begin on or after 1 March 2026.
New rent rates will be permitted where a tenant ends the tenancy or if the landlord terminates the tenancy due to a breach of the tenant’s obligations.
Landlords with up to three tenancies will be considered smaller landlords.
Meanwhile, people seeking social housing will have to demonstrate that they have a long-term right to remain in the State under legislation which was discussed by Cabinet today.
The Housing Bill will introduce what is called a habitual residency requirement for social housing.
Minister James Browne said this legislation will support an existing policy which defines social housing as a long-term support.
Mr Browne also told the Government that there will be no tolerance for price gouging under the new legislation and it will also provide for the holding of Residential Tenancies Board hearings in public.
The minister said his department would study the latest AIB survey which shows a contraction in construction activity.
He said there was “conflicting information” regarding the sector and added that he expected the impact of the Budget’s VAT cut for apartments should begin to deliver results in the first three of months of next year.
He said there were 40,000 apartments which had planning permission, and it takes three to four months for projects to get finance.
He was speaking at the launch of an annual report of approved housing body Respond.
Separately, Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke brought a memo to the Government on the progress his department has made to cut red tape for businesses.
He said that all Local Enterprise Office grants schemes have been reviewed.
This has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of questions asked for each grant approval.
Mr Burke has now asked Enterprise Ireland to target a 24-hour turnaround time for application approvals.
