Rents saw the largest quarterly increase on record after they surged by 4.4 per cent between December and March as the Government’s new rent control system came into effect, a new Daft.ie report shows.The biggest shake-up of rent regulations in a decade came into force at the start of March when landlords were permitted to reset rents to market rates in between tenancies. The new rules, which overhauled what had been existing rent pressure zone legislation, mean landlords can increase rents by 2 per cent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower. Tenants now also enjoy greater security of tenure, with new six-year tenancies of “minimum duration”.The report from property group Daft.ie showed rents rose as much as they did over the whole of 2025 between December and March, climbing 40 per cent above pre-Covid levels, 75 per cent above their Celtic Tiger peak and 81 per cent higher than 10 years ago.Annual rent inflation ticked up to 7.8 per cent in the quarter – a rate last seen in August 2023, and up from 4.1 per cent a year ago. The average monthly rent nationwide for a two-bedroom apartment was €2,176.In the cities, rents were up 18 per cent year-on-year in Galway, 13 per cent in Cork, 10 per cent in Limerick, 8 per cent in Waterford and 6.9 per cent in Dublin.Outside the cities, the rate of rent inflation was close to 8 per cent in Leinster, Munster and in Connacht-Ulster.The increase in rents since Covid has been uneven across the country, up 23 per cent in Dublin but 86 per cent in Connacht-Ulster.[ Rise in number of properties to rent but still below pre-Covid levels despite rule changesOpens in new window ]Trinity College Dublin economics professor Ronan Lyons, who authored the report, said the surge in rents over the quarter “stands out” even against the volatility seen during the pandemic and the inflationary period of 2022.“This sharp surge in rents coincides with the new rent control system,” he said. “A key feature of the new rules is the ability to reset rents to market levels when a tenancy ends. “For landlords whose rents had been constrained by earlier rules, this represents an opportunity to realign rents with prevailing market conditions. The scale of the increase suggests this opportunity has been taken up widely, where tenancies have recently turned over.”The report also showed there were 2,374 homes available to rent nationwide on May 1st, which represented a reduction of 4 per cent from a year previous, but an increase on the 1,200 homes that were available on January 1st.It was also the third lowest availability total for the start of May since the series began in 2006. Availability remains well below pre-pandemic norms when there were typically over 4,000 homes to rent at any one time.Lyons said the overall availability of rental housing remains “very limited”, with the result being the price effects of the new system have appeared “more quickly and more clearly than any increase in supply”.[ Record number of eviction notices issued ahead of changes to rental rulesOpens in new window ]“It remains to be seen whether the new framework will influence investment and supply decisions – the initial impact has been to bring about an increase in market rents larger than any seen over the past 25 years,” he added.Commenting on the report, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the “dramatic surge in market rents is a direct consequence of the Government’s decision to allow landlords to reset rents between tenancies” and called for an immediate ban on rent increases. He said renters were “already struggling with rising food, transport and energy costs. With eviction notices now at record highs, how are working people going to be able to afford these rents? “They will either face increased financial hardship or be forced to move back in with their parents, to emigrate or, worse still, be forced into homelessness.”