John Paul O'Shea (Cork North-West, Fine Gael)
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99. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government to outline the new rules, from March 2026, for landlords, which allow them, their executors or families to terminate leases and sell properties when necessary to repay nursing home loans or distribute estates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2761/26]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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On 14 October 2025, the Government approved the General Scheme of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025, which is now the subject of priority legal drafting by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel.

The Bill will include a number of provisions to mitigate the impact of 6 year Tenancies of Minimum Duration (TMDs) on a smaller landlord (i.e. a landlord who is not a company and has 3 or fewer tenancies). A smaller landlord will be allowed to terminate a tenancy at any time during a 6 year TMD if the landlord intends to sell the rented dwelling due to financial hardship (to be prescribed in law) and does not wish to do so with the tenant(s) in situ. The matter raised in your Question is being considered during the legal drafting process.

The Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2026 will be published in the coming weeks and will be subject to debate, and open to amendment, during the legislative process in the Houses of the Oireachtas.