Rental deposits in Ireland: how to protect yours and get it back
What a landlord can and can't deduct, what counts as normal wear and tear, and the exact steps to get your full deposit back through the RTB if it's withheld.
The deposit is the part of renting where the most money goes missing. A month's rent — often well over €1,500 — handed over at the start, and at the end too many tenants are told they're "not getting it back" for reasons that don't hold up. Here's how deposits actually work in Ireland, and how to make sure you get yours back.
This is a practical guide, not legal advice. The authority on deposit disputes is the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), and Threshold gives free tenant advice.
How much can a landlord ask for?
The norm is one month's rent. Recent rules restrict landlords from requiring more than the equivalent of one month's rent as a deposit plus one month's rent in advance — so the most you should typically be asked for up front is two months' rent total (deposit + first month). Be cautious of anyone demanding several months' deposit.
What a landlord can legitimately deduct
Your deposit isn't the landlord's money — it's yours, held as security. They can only deduct from it for:
- Unpaid rent or unpaid bills you were responsible for.
- Damage beyond normal wear and tear — a cracked hob, a hole in a wall, a ruined carpet.
- Cleaning costs only if you leave the place in a genuinely worse state than you got it.
That's the whole list. They cannot keep your deposit because they "want to repaint," because the next tenant is slow to move in, or simply because they'd rather not give it back.