Landlord Notice of Termination Ireland (RTA 2004 Part 5)

In Irish law a tenancy of a dwelling cannot be ended by forfeiture, re-entry or a verbal warning. Section 58 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 restricts termination to a notice of termination that complies with Part 5. A landlord notice of termination is therefore a statutory notice rather than an ordinary letter: if it misses one requirement of section 62, the tenant can challenge it before the RTB, and a defect is often fatal. It differs from the tenant's own notice, which has shorter periods, and from a rent arrears or breach warning, which opens the way to a termination but ends nothing itself.

Some arrangements fall outside the Act altogether. A lodger in the owner's home is not covered, because section 3(2)(g) excludes a dwelling in which the landlord also lives, and holiday lettings, local authority tenancies and business premises are excluded too. A tenancy still in its fixed term is another trap: it can only be ended early for a breach of the tenant's obligations. Our residential tenancy documents for Ireland cover the earlier and later stages.

Validity is governed by section 62 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The notice must be in writing, signed by the landlord or the landlord's authorised agent, and state its date of service. It must give the reason for termination and specify the termination date, adding that the tenant has the whole of the 24 hours of that day to vacate. It must also state that any issue about its validity has to be referred to the RTB within the period set by section 80: 28 days where the termination is for a breach of the tenant's obligations, and 90 days in every other case. The landlord must also serve a copy on the RTB within 7 days of serving the tenant, and a notice whose copy never reaches the Board is invalid. The consolidated text of section 62 on the Law Reform Commission's revised Acts is the version to check before serving.

Notice periods come from section 66: 90 days for a tenancy of less than six months, 152 days from six months to one year, 180 days up to seven years, 196 days in the eighth year and 224 days beyond. Section 67 shortens this to 28 days for a breach or unpaid rent once the warning procedure has run, and to 7 days for serious anti-social behaviour or behaviour threatening the dwelling's fabric. The seven grounds themselves are in the Table to section 34. Section 35B, in force since 1 March 2026, gives new tenancies a six-year tenancy of minimum duration, closes the last four grounds to companies and to landlords with more than three tenancies, limits a sale during those six years to defined hardship cases, and allows refurbishment or change of use only with a termination date on or after the end of the six years.

Rent arrears are the classic fault-based trigger. The landlord first serves a written warning on the tenant and on the RTB, waits 28 days from the later receipt, and only then serves a notice giving 28 days. Other breaches, such as refused access for repairs, damage beyond normal wear and tear or an unauthorised sublet, call for a written warning with a reasonable time to put things right. Serious anti-social behaviour, such as violence, threats or criminal conduct affecting neighbours, is the exception, with 7 days' notice and no prior warning.

The no-fault grounds carry more paperwork. A landlord selling within nine months or housing a son, daughter or parent needs a statutory declaration made before a solicitor or a Commissioner for Oaths, and the same goes for refurbishment or change of use on a tenancy that began on or after 1 March 2026. Refurbishment requires a statement of the works and a certificate from a registered professional that the dwelling cannot safely stay occupied for at least three weeks. A tenancy still in its first six months can be ended without a statutory ground, but the notice must say so in the form section 62(1)(da) requires. A tenancy that began before 11 June 2022 can still be ended at the end of its current six-year Part 4 cycle, provided the notice is served before that cycle expires.

The notice opens with every tenant by name, the dwelling and its Eircode, and the landlord, whether an individual, joint owners or a company acting through a named officer. The termination date paragraph repeats the statutory wording about the whole of the 24 hours of that day.

• Each ground has its own reason paragraph, citing the matching paragraph of the Table to section 34 rather than a vague "landlord needs the property".
• Where arrears are involved, the notice records the date of the warning to the tenant, the date of the copy to the RTB, the amount outstanding and how it was calculated.
• For a sale, own use, refurbishment or change of use, an opportunity to re-occupy clause explains when the landlord must offer the tenancy back and that the offer has to be accepted within the period stated, never more than 7 days.
• Dispute wording switches automatically between 28 and 90 days.
• A separate page holds the statutory declaration, with the formula of the Statutory Declarations Act 1938 and a jurat for the person taking it.

The document closes with the RTB copy statement, a deposit and inspection paragraph, and the date and method of service. Landlords re-letting the same dwelling will find our Irish tenancy agreements and rent notices in the same category.

You start by choosing the reason for ending the tenancy, because every later question depends on it. The form then asks who the landlord is and who signs. For sale, own use, refurbishment and change of use, one question establishes whether the tenancy began before 1 March 2026 and whether the landlord has more than three tenancies; if the ground is closed to that landlord, the wizard says so and the document carries a clear warning instead of a false declaration. The ground screens collect what the Act requires: warning dates, arrears figures, bed spaces, the family member's relationship, the planning reference or the contractor and dates for works.

Final screens cover the termination date, the date of service and the method of service, with the notice periods listed in the help text. Click Finish to download the notice, sign it and serve it. Landlord companies often need a board resolution or other company paperwork authorising the director who signs.

The error that sinks most notices is the termination date. Landlords count from the day of service instead of the day after, or measure the tenancy's length at a date other than the date of service, and end up one day short. An adjudicator may allow a remedial notice, but only after a hearing and at least 28 more days. The date of service is the second trap: under section 64 no step of service may remain outstanding on the date stated, and the RTB advises that the tenant receive it that day, so a notice posted on Monday and dated Monday is at risk if it arrives on Wednesday. Email to an address the tenant uses for the tenancy, with a record of sending, or hand delivery avoids the problem.

Forgetting the RTB copy within 7 days now invalidates the notice. Other failures come from the no-fault paperwork: a declaration never made before a Commissioner for Oaths, a declaration signed by the letting agent instead of the landlord, a niece named as occupant before the end of the six-year period, or a refurbishment notice without the professional's certificate. Some landlords also serve a breach notice without the earlier warning, which the RTB treats as fatal. The declaration attached to the notice has wording fixed by sections 34 and 35, so keep it with the notice; the personal legal templates for Ireland serve other purposes, such as a general power of attorney.