What must a rent review notice contain?

The new rent, the date it takes effect, and how the figure was arrived at. It has to be in writing and has to give at least 90 days before the new rent starts.

Is a text message or an email a valid rent review notice?

It has to be in writing and carry the required content. An email that contains all of it is on stronger ground than a text that says the rent is going up, but a notice missing any required element is defective regardless of how it was sent.

What if the notice is wrong?

A defective notice does not take effect. It does not become valid on the correct date or at a corrected amount, and the landlord has to serve a new one, which starts the 90 days again.

What a landlord has to send you when the rent changes

A rent review notice must reach you and the Residential Tenancies Board on the same day, with the working and three comparable properties shown.

A rent increase is not a message. It is a notice with a defined content, and a notice that is missing part of it is not valid. If one has landed with you, these are the things to check before you agree to anything.

It has to go to two places on the same day

The landlord serves the notice on you and sends it to the Residential Tenancies Board on the same day. If it never went to the Board, the notice is invalid. You cannot see the Board's copy, but you can ask, and a landlord who did it properly will have a record.

It has to carry a statement

The date the rent was last set. This is what decides whether a review is even due, because reviews are allowed once every twelve months.
A printout from the Board's own rent calculator showing how the new figure was worked out.
Details of three comparable properties from the Board's Rent Register.

Then check the figure

The increase is capped at 2% or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. A landlord applying 2% in a year where inflation is running at 1.4% has used the wrong one. Our calculator shows both figures side by side so you can see which should have bound.

There is one exception worth knowing: new apartments and student accommodation where building work started on or after 10 June 2025 can follow inflation with no 2% ceiling. If your building is new, that may be why the figure is higher than you expected.

If something is missing

Raise it in writing with the landlord first, and keep the notice. If it is not resolved, the Residential Tenancies Board runs a dispute resolution service and a rent review is one of the things it deals with. Do not stop paying the existing rent in the meantime, because that creates a separate and much worse problem.

Questions people ask

What must a rent review notice contain?: The new rent, the date it takes effect, and how the figure was arrived at. It has to be in writing and has to give at least 90 days before the new rent starts.
Is a text message or an email a valid rent review notice?: It has to be in writing and carry the required content. An email that contains all of it is on stronger ground than a text that says the rent is going up, but a notice missing any required element is defective regardless of how it was sent.
What if the notice is wrong?: A defective notice does not take effect. It does not become valid on the correct date or at a corrected amount, and the landlord has to serve a new one, which starts the 90 days again.

Figures checked 4 August 2026.