For Cork's private landlords · the March 2026 rules
The wrong tenant can now cost you €25,000 — and the law gives you six years to live with the choice.
Since 1 March 2026, most new Cork tenancies run on a six-year cycle — and removing a non-paying tenant means joining the RTB queue. TrustColive verifies exactly who you're letting to. Properly. By a human. Before you sign anything.
The maths, in the open: €2,103 × 12 = €25,236 — one year of arrears at Cork's average two-bed rent, before a cent in legal costs. Daft.ie Rental Report, Q1 2026.
Typical exposure · unprotected Cork tenancy
€25,236
One year of arrears
73 / 485
RTB enforcement orders actually executed
6
Years on the new tenancy cycle
Illustrative gauge. Figures sourced from RTB enforcement data and the Daft.ie Rental Report Q1 2026 — detailed below.
The March 2026 reality · Cork
Letting changed on the 1st of March. The risk moved to you.
Before March 2026
- A reference letter and a gut feeling were usually enough.
- A problem tenancy could be ended and the property re-let.
- Rent could be reset between tenancies without conditions.
After March 2026
- Paper references are easy to forge — and a tenant arriving from abroad has no Irish credit or rental history to check.
- Non-payment means the RTB queue: of 485 enforcement requests, only 73 ended in an executed court order.
- New tenancies run a six-year cycle. A small landlord can end one early only on limited grounds — executed by the book.
- Resetting the rent between tenancies is only lawful if the last tenancy ended cleanly and is documented.
Two shields. One concierge.
No app scans your tenant's face. No algorithm scores a human being.
A person verifies. A person drafts. You decide. That's the whole model.
Bank trail, verified at origin
Statements and source of funds checked manually against the documents and institutions in the tenant's home country — not against a UK credit file they don't have.
References that get phone calls
Every prior landlord and employer reference is contacted and cross-checked, in their language if needed. A letter on its own proves nothing.
Employment & enrolment confirmed
Jobs and university places — UCC, MTU or abroad — confirmed in writing with the source, so "I start in September" is a fact, not a promise.
A clear answer in 7 working days
A written, signed risk report with one of three recommendations: proceed, proceed with conditions, or walk away.
What protection costs in Cork
Three ways to cover the same risk.
Letting agent · let-only
€1,500–€2,000
Roughly one month's rent, per tenancy — and the screening still leans on the same paper references.
Generic credit check
~€35
UK-style referencing. It can't see a tenant who has never lived in Ireland or the UK — and it knows nothing about Irish paperwork after March 2026.
TrustColive · founding pilot
€49 flat
One Shield A verification or one Shield B notice — prepared and personally reviewed by the founder. Founding-pilot pricing, capped at 15 portfolios a month.
Start with the free assessmentStart with the free assessment. If your process is already solid, we'll tell you so — and it costs you nothing.
Why there are no testimonials on this page
Because we would have had to invent them. TrustColive opened its founding pilot for Cork landlords in June 2026, and we'd rather earn the first fifteen reviews than fake them.
What you get instead: every number on this page traceable to the RTB, the CSO or Daft.ie. A real intake cap. And a founder who reviews every file personally and answers his own email.
19,512
households rent privately in Cork city & suburbs
€2,103/mo
average open-market rent, two-bed, Cork
+13%
Cork market rents, year on year
Sources: RTB enforcement & compliance data · CSO Census 2022 · Daft.ie Rental Report Q1 2026.
Free · Manual · 48 hours
Get your free landlord risk assessment
Tell us where you stand. Within 48 hours you'll have a personalised, human-written breakdown of your exposure under the March 2026 rules — and exactly what to do about it. No cost. No obligation.