Buy-to-let mortgages in Ireland: the 70% rule

A buy-to-let is a home you buy to rent to someone else. The mortgage on it follows different rules from a home loan: a bigger deposit, no income multiple, and a test on the rent instead. After you buy, you are a landlord, with a regulator, a tax return and a set of duties. This guide covers the 70% rule, what replaces the income limit, the lenders, the tax and the duties.

The 70% rule

The Central Bank's rules cap a buy-to-let loan at 70% of the value of the home. The other 30% is your deposit. That is the whole of the rule on size: there is no income multiple.

Compare the three kinds of borrower.

Read the Central Bank rules. The allowance to lend above 70% is the lender's choice for a small share of its lending in a year. It is never a right. Read the exemption guide.

No income multiple: what replaces it

Because the rent is meant to pay the loan, the lender tests the rent rather than your salary. Three tests are common, and each lender sets its own figures.

1. Rental cover. The expected rent must be more than the monthly repayment by a margin, commonly 125% to 150%. So on a repayment of €1,000, the lender wants rent of €1,250 to €1,500.
2. A stress rate. The repayment in that test is worked out at a rate above the one you pay, often 2% higher, to allow for rates moving.
3. Your own income. The lender still looks at your salary and outgoings as a backstop for months with no tenant.

The rent figure comes from the lender's valuer, who gives a rental value as well as a sale value. It is the valuer's figure that counts, not the rent you hope for.

A worked example

Seán is buying a two-bed apartment for €280,000 to let. The valuer puts the rent at €1,700 a month.

• The loan is capped at 70% of €280,000: €196,000. Seán's deposit is €84,000.
• At a buy-to-let rate of 5%, €196,000 over 25 years costs about €1,146 a month.
• At the lender's stress rate of 7%, the repayment is about €1,385.
• Rental cover at 125% of €1,385 is €1,731. The rent of €1,700 is just under, so this lender lends a little less, or asks Seán to put in more.
• Stamp duty is 1% of €280,000: €2,800. Read stamp duty.

The numbers in the example are for illustration; each lender's rate, stress rate and cover margin are its own. The how much can I borrow tool shows the 70% limit against your price, and the repayment calculator the monthly figure at any rate.

Which lenders, and at what rate

Buy-to-let loans are offered by some of the main banks and some broker-only lenders. Not every lender offers them, and the list changes. Buy-to-let rates are higher than home loan rates, often by one to two percentage points, and the terms are shorter. Some lenders offer interest-only periods, where you pay only the interest for a time and the loan itself at the end or when you sell.

Compare the rates on the mortgage rates page, where the rows are indicative at launch and the CCPC's own comparison is linked. A broker (on the Central Bank's register) knows which lenders are open to buy-to-let that month; read about the mortgage advisor.

Mortgage protection insurance is required by law on a home loan but not on a home that is not your residence. Many lenders still ask for life cover on a buy-to-let. Read about mortgage protection.

Tax on rent

The rent you receive is income. Revenue taxes the profit, which is the rent less the costs the law allows. This guide describes the mechanism and leaves the figures to Revenue's pages.

• Income tax on the profit at your rate, plus USC and PRSI.
• Allowable costs include mortgage interest (in full, where the tenancy is registered with the RTB), repairs and maintenance, insurance and management fees. The RTB registration fee, accountant's fees and the cost of furniture and appliances, written off over eight years, are allowed too.
• Not allowed: the capital part of the repayment, your own labour, and improvements (which come off the gain for capital gains tax later instead).
• A temporary relief for small landlords who keep a home let was introduced from 2024 for a set number of years; Revenue's pages give the current figures and conditions.
• A tax return each year, by 31 October, through Revenue's online services. Most landlords use an accountant for the first one.

If you live abroad, the tenant withholds tax from the rent unless you use Revenue's non-resident landlord system or a collection agent. Read can foreigners buy property in Ireland.

Your duties as a landlord

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB, see the glossary) regulates private tenancies under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 and its amendments. The main duties are these.

• Register the tenancy with the RTB within a month of it starting, and renew the registration each year. There is a fee per tenancy.
• A BER before you advertise the home for rent, from a BER assessor (on SEAI's register). Read about the BER assessor and the BER rating explained.
• Minimum standards for rented homes: heating, ventilation, fire safety, appliances and repairs, set in regulations and inspected by councils.
• Rent rules. In a rent pressure zone, rent increases are capped. The rules changed for tenancies starting from 1 March 2026; see changes and the RTB.
• Ending a tenancy only on a ground the Act allows, with the right notice period and, for a sale, a statutory declaration. Read buying a house with tenants for the notice table and selling a house with tenants for the seller's side.
• The deposit must be returned at the end, less lawful deductions, and disputes go to the RTB.

Breaking these rules has fines, and an unregistered tenancy costs you the interest deduction.

Stamp duty, LPT and the other costs

• Stamp duty is the same as on any home: 1% up to €1 million, 2% on the part to €1.5 million, 6% above. Ten or more homes bought at once carry 15%.
• Local Property Tax is paid by the owner each year, not the tenant. Read LPT for a new owner.
• The purchase costs are the same as for any buyer: solicitor €1,500 to €3,000 plus VAT, outlays, a survey, a valuation. Read the cost of buying a house.
• Running costs: insurance for a let home, management fees in an apartment block, repairs, and the months between tenants when no rent comes in.

Selling later

When you sell a buy-to-let, capital gains tax applies to the gain, because it was never your main home. The rate is 33%, with 31% announced in Budget 2027 for disposals from 7 October 2026, waiting on the Finance Act 2026. The purchase costs and improvements come off the gain, and the first €1,270 each year is exempt. Read selling a rental property and run the CGT calculator.

Before you commit

• Ask the lender for its rental cover margin and stress rate, and get the valuer's rent figure before you rely on your own.
• Price the home with no tenant for two months a year.
• Budget the tax on the profit, not just the mortgage against the rent.
• Read the RTB's landlord guide before the first tenant moves in.

Where this leaves you

Start with the how much can I borrow tool: put in the price and see the 70% limit and the 30% deposit. Then check the rent against the repayment at a stressed rate, because that test decides what a lender gives. The moving home journey covers a purchase alongside your own home, and get quotes puts you in touch with a solicitor, a surveyor and a BER assessor for the home you let.