07/11/2025
Insights Blog

This week the Government published Q&A on the rental market reforms announced on 10 June 2025 (for more on the announcement, please see our briefing and video podcast).

Student specific accommodation (SSA)

The most significant update, particularly for PBSA developers and investors, is how the changes will apply to student specific accommodation (SSA). Up to now, the proposed treatment of SSA was unclear, with the Ministers for Housing and Higher Education suggesting that rent cap rules might be applied differently to SSA compared to PRS but without specifying what those differences would be.

The Q&A now confirms the Government’s intended approach. Essentially, SSA will be on a 3-year cycle with annual CPI-linked uplifts within each cycle and a market “rebase” at the end of each 3-year period. The relevant extract from the Q&A is below.

The rent increase restriction will apply to all SSA during the first 3 years of operation of the new national rent control. It is not proposed to allow SSA to reset rents upon the commencement of each student licence. SSA can reset its rents to market value after 3 years and after every 3-year period that follows while it continues to operate as SSA.

This means that

  • Changes in student occupants (which routinely happens annually) will not create a right to set a fresh market rent. By contrast, where a PRS tenant voluntarily leaves a tenancy, the rent may be reset.
  • Rather, after the first 3 years, a unit’s rent can be re-set to current market value and the next 3-year block starts from this new base, with CPI-linked uplifts* applying each year. This is then repeated in 3-year cycles.
  • *CPI-linked uplifts will apply to new SSA (commenced on or after 10 June 2025). For existing SSA, CPI-linked uplifts will be capped at 2% in times of high inflation.

Recent media reports indicated that the Ministers for Higher Education and Housing were working together to address the issue of separate SSA rent and service charges (i.e. where rents are subject to the current 2% rent cap, but services charges are not). However, the Q&A does not reference any such proposals.

Rent resets to market value

The Q&A confirms that rent can be reset to market levels :

  • When a tenant leaves the dwelling voluntarily;
  • When a tenancy is terminated for breach of tenancy obligations;
  • When a tenancy is terminated because a dwelling no longer meets the tenant’s needs; or
  • At the end of each 6-year tenancy cycle (to be known as Tenancies of Minimum Duration).

Rent resets will be prohibited after “no fault” terminations.

Sale, asset management, and refurbishment

The Q&A confirms:

  • All landlords can sell with a tenant in situ at any time.
  • A vacant possession sale will only be permitted where the tenant leaves voluntarily (all landlords), or at 6-year intervals (smaller landlords).
  • After each 6-year tenancy, smaller landlords (having less than 4 tenancies) will be permitted within specific time periods to terminate a tenancy for sale, substantial refurbishment, own/family use, or change of use.
  • Larger landlords will not be permitted to terminate a tenancy unless a tenant is in breach or the property is no longer suitable.

Rent register

Some recent media reports indicated that the draft legislation would provide the legal framework for the establishment of a publicly accessible rent register; this was recommended by the Housing Commission but not specifically mentioned in the Government’s June 2025 announcement.

The Q&A confirms that rent amounts will be included on the RTB’s published register without disclosing the dwelling address or the identity of the landlord and tenant and that the Government is working with the office of the Data Protection Commissioner to ensure any changes made comply with GDPR.

Draft legislation

The draft legislation implementing the above has not been published. The Government has committed to implementing these changes on 1 March 2026 so we would expect the draft legislation to be published soon.

We are monitoring developments closely and will publish further briefings as more information becomes available.

For tailored advice on the impact of these changes, please contact a member of the Arthur Cox Real Estate Group.