Irish law is set to make the offer of 'Sex for Rent' exploitation a crime.
This follows an RTÉ Investigates documentary that was released in July 2023, which found that numerous landlords were offering free or discounted accommodation in exchange for sexual favours.
According to the latest figures from the Department of Housing released in June, 11,864 adults and 5,583 children were accessing emergency accommodation in May, with 7,346 of those were single households, while 2,684 were family households. Homelessness levels first passed 17,000 at the start of 2026.
Tomorrow, soliciting sexual favours in lieu of rental payments will become a crime in Ireland.
Social Democrats TD, Cian O’Callaghan sought to criminalise the practice in 2022, and in August of this year, Sinn Féin proposed a bill to the Dáil that would criminalise the practice under the Residential Tenancies Bill.
Cian O’Callaghan stated the law must be used against those who think this is acceptable behaviour:
"Existing legislation is not strong enough - no one can be in any doubt that these practices are illegal and that requires a strong legal framework to be in place."
Psychiatric social worker Kieran McGrath, in response to the investigative documentary, points out that women are the most vulnerable in the ‘Sex for Rent’ practice.
"Young women who are in poor circumstances either because they can’t afford rent, because they are immigrants, they are homeless, they’ve broken up from a relationship and they’ve nowhere to go.”
“Basically, they are essentially destitute in an economic sense and can’t afford the very high rents that we have and maybe they don’t have any kind of social support where they have family or friends who could take them in. And they’re just desperate for somewhere."
The National Women’s Council (NWC) have celebrated the law, calling it a “major win for women.”
NWC Executive Director Corrinne Hasson said:
“What will be key now is that the law is implemented and enforced effectively. To facilitate this, we need to see actions on sex for rent in the next Government Strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, including training for gardaí and frontline services. Online platforms must be held accountable if they host illegal ads for sex for rent. Legal protections for renters, particularly in rent-a-room schemes, must be strengthened. And there will have to be a public information campaign so that women know what they can do if they receive an exploitative offer of sex for rent”.
Senior Policy Officer on Violence Against Women at NWC Ivanna Youtchak, said:
“This win for women is thanks to the efforts and collaboration of many people – but special thanks is due to the journalists who broke the story and those who kept covering it, as well as to politicians across the political spectrum who worked hard to ensure we have this legislation today. There has also been vital collaboration between organisations supporting renters, victims-survivors of sexual violence, students (especially international students), victims of trafficking which kept the pressure on and ensured this issue never got sidelined. At the National Women’s Council, we are also grateful to our funders for their support with this project”.
Th Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, which will introduce a new offence criminalising the advertising or offering of accommodation in exchange for sex will be enacted tomorrow.
