Finding somewhere to live in Dublin

How viewings actually go

Most listings appear on Daft.ie and MyHome.ie and are shown as open viewings with a queue on the pavement, and the agent takes applications on the spot. Successful applicants are the ones who arrive with the whole pack ready — references, employment letter, identification — and can pay the deposit and first month immediately. Listings go up during the working day and the good ones are booked out within an hour, so set alerts and treat the search as a job.

• Daft.ie is the dominant portal; MyHome.ie and letting agents' own sites carry the rest.
• Bring: photo ID, an employment or offer letter, a previous landlord reference, and a bank statement.
• Employer letters confirming a permanent role carry disproportionate weight.

Verifying the tenancy before any money moves

Landlords are required to register tenancies with the Residential Tenancies Board, and the public register can be searched by address to confirm the property and landlord are real. Combine that with a physical viewing — yours or someone's on your behalf — and almost all of Dublin's rental fraud stops working. Nobody legitimate asks for a deposit to secure a viewing, sends keys by courier, or explains that they are abroad and cannot show you the property.

• Search the RTB register by address before transferring anything.
• Deposit plus advance rent together are capped at the equivalent of two months.
• Pay by traceable bank transfer with a written receipt, never by cash or gift card.

Your rights once you are in

Once a tenancy has run six months you acquire additional protections including security of tenure, and notice periods that the landlord must give lengthen with how long you have lived there. Rent increases are restricted in Rent Pressure Zones by a published formula, and the rules on this were changed in 2025 and 2026 — the RTB publishes a calculator and it is worth running before accepting any renewal quote. There is no state deposit protection scheme in Ireland, so a documented inventory with photographs and dated meter readings is what you have instead.

• The RTB is the dispute body for registered tenancies and adjudicates deposit disputes.
• Rent review rules in RPZs have changed recently — check the current position, not last year's.
• Photograph every room, and the meters, on the day you move in and the day you leave.

Sharing, digs and licensee arrangements

A large part of Dublin's affordable supply is rooms in shared houses, and the legal position depends on who else lives there. Sharing with other tenants under one lease makes you jointly liable for the whole rent, including the share of anyone who leaves. Sharing with the owner, or renting under the rent-a-room arrangement, puts you outside the residential tenancies regime entirely — that can still be a perfectly good living arrangement, but go in knowing what it is.

In order

1. 1Assemble references, ID and an employment letter before you start viewing.
2. 2Set alerts on Daft and apply on the day a listing appears.
3. 3Attend the viewing, or send someone who will.
4. 4Check the address on the RTB register.
5. 5Pay by traceable transfer, no more than two months in total, with a written receipt.
6. 6Photograph the property and the meters, and get a written inventory signed.