PSRA Property Services Agreement Ireland: What It Must Include

Last updated November 2026. General information only, not legal advice.

Every licensed estate agent, letting agent and management agent in Ireland must have a written property services agreement with each client. The rules come from section 43 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011 and Schedule 2 to that Act. This guide explains the deadlines, what the agreement must contain for letting and property management work, and what happens when a licensee gets it wrong.

What is a PSRA property services agreement?

The 2011 Act calls the document a “letter of engagement”; a “property services agreement” is a letter of engagement issued under section 43(1) that has not ceased to have effect. The Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) publishes the agreements as “PSRA/S43 Forms”. The agreement is a contract between the licensee and the client, the person for whom the service is provided: the landlord or owner for a letting, the owners’ management company (OMC) for block management. A tenant is never the client, and the Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 564 of 2020) forbid a licensee from charging letting or sale fees to anyone other than the client.

The section 43 deadlines

Section 43(1) requires the licensee to give the client a signed letter of engagement, in the form specified by the PSRA and containing the Schedule 2 information, together with a copy, not later than seven working days after the earlier of starting to provide the service or agreeing to provide it. Section 43(2) then gives the client a further seven working days to sign and return the copy. If the client does not, the licensee must stop (or not start) providing the service and the letter ceases to have effect. Amendments must be issued within seven working days of being agreed, and the same rules apply to renewals and re-engagements. The PSRA reminds licensees that they must never sign on the client’s behalf.

Failing to comply with section 43(1), (2) or (3) is expressly “improper conduct” under section 2 of the Act, so the PSRA can investigate and sanction it. The Minimum Standards Regulations add that a breach of the letter of engagement is itself a breach of the Regulations, and that a licensee may not take any reward beyond the fees agreed in the letter.

What every agreement must contain (Schedule 2, Part 1)

Schedule 2 lists the information that must appear in every agreement, whatever the service:

• the licensee’s name, licence (registration) number, business address and contact details, and any business name;
• details of the property services to be provided and particulars of the property, including the folio number where appropriate;
• the commission or fee, expressed as an amount or a rate, and when it is payable, with the applicable VAT rate;
• the period during which the parties’ rights and obligations apply, the notice period for termination by either side and the consequences of termination;
• a statement of the licensee’s duty to report suspicious transactions under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010;
• an affirmation that the licensee has no conflict of interest;
• details of the licensee’s professional indemnity insurance;
• the records the licensee will keep, the name and address of the bank holding client accounts, how client money is deposited and how interest is applied;
• the complaints and redress procedures.

Additional content for lettings (Part 3)

A letting agreement must also state the proposed letting duration and advised letting value, whether the agency is sole, joint or multiple, an estimated total fee or range where the fee is a percentage of value, the advertising terms and outlay, the client’s obligations if they let otherwise than through the licensee, and a schedule of contents where applicable. If the agent will go on to manage the let property, the PSRA says the agreement must address that too.

Additional content for property management services (Part 4)

Under the Act, “property management services” means managing a multi-unit development on behalf of a management body, that is, OMC block management. A Part 4 agreement must add a timetable for delivering the services, the notice the client must give to request individual services, particulars of out-of-hours emergency services, and the licensee’s reporting obligations.

The PSRA forms and licence categories

The PSRA licenses four categories: A (auctioneers), B (estate agents), C (letting agents) and D (management agents for multi-unit developments). It publishes a specified form for each engagement: Form A for auctions, Forms B and B2 for sale and purchase, Forms C1 and C2 for letting (C1 covers all land and buildings including residential; C2 is for conacre and agricultural lettings) and Form D for property management services provided to an OMC. All current forms were reissued on 12 August 2026. The forms may be reproduced on the licensee’s headed paper, and where a form offers alternative fee options one must be chosen and the others deleted before signing. The PSRA’s 2026 audit findings list incomplete Forms C and D, and inspection promises never carried out, among the most common failings leading to sanctions.

Duties behind the agreement

Several Schedule 2 items point to obligations that exist independently of the contract. Under the Client Moneys Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 199 of 2012) client money must be held in a client account at a bank in the State, records kept for seven years and an accountant’s report filed with the PSRA each year; knowingly putting client money elsewhere is an offence under section 47 carrying up to €50,000 and five years’ imprisonment on indictment. For OMC management, service charges and sinking fund contributions go into the OMC’s own accounts under the Multi-Unit Developments Act 2011, and a licensee may not be a director of an OMC it manages unless it owns a unit; see our guide to the MUD Act and OMC duties. Professional indemnity insurance is compulsory under section 45, with a minimum of €1,000,000 per claim since 3 March 2025. Licence fees rose from 1 June 2026 to €1,380 for a property services employer or independent contractor and €200 for a principal officer or employee.

What landlords should know

If you engage a letting agent, check that the agreement states the fee basis, the agency type, the inspection frequency promised and the notice period for ending the arrangement. Registering the tenancy with the Residential Tenancies Board remains the landlord’s duty, within one month of the tenancy starting and annually thereafter, at €40 per tenancy per year. Rent-setting rules changed from 1 March 2026 under the Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026; see new rental laws in Ireland 2026 and our landlord rights and obligations guide.

Using a template

Our PSRA Property Services Agreement (Property Management) template is a self-complete document that follows the Schedule 2 structure for Part 1 and Part 4 content, with notes on each field. It sits in our PSRA documents category alongside letters of engagement for sale and purchase.

Be clear about the limits. The section 43 duty sits on the licensee, not the client, and the Act requires the form specified by the PSRA, so a licensee must check that any document it issues matches the current specified form, is fully completed with the client and is signed within the deadlines. A template cannot make an unlicensed person a licensee, fix a missed deadline, or settle a dispute over fees or inspections once it has arisen. If the PSRA has opened an investigation, or legal action is threatened, speak to a solicitor; the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor service can help you locate one.

Frequently asked questions

What is a PSRA letter of engagement?

It is the written agreement that a licensed property services provider must give a client under section 43 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011. Once signed and returned it is the “property services agreement”. It must be in the form specified by the PSRA and contain the information listed in Schedule 2 to the Act.

When must a property services agreement be signed in Ireland?

The licensee must issue the signed letter within seven working days of agreeing to provide, or starting to provide, the service, whichever is earlier. The client then has a further seven working days to sign and return it. If it is not returned, the licensee must stop acting and the letter ceases to have effect.

Is the PSRA property services agreement mandatory?

Yes. Section 43 requires it for every property service provided by a licensee, and failing to issue it is “improper conduct” under section 2 of the Act. The PSRA has imposed major sanctions, including financial penalties, on firms that acted without a valid agreement.

Which PSRA licence do you need for property management in Ireland?

Category D covers “property management services”, which the Act defines as managing a multi-unit development for its management body (OMC). Managing an individual landlord’s rented property falls under letting and is covered by a Category C licence and a Form C1 agreement.

Does a landlord have to pay a letting agent’s fee under the agreement?

The client, usually the landlord, pays the fee set out in the agreement. The Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 prohibit a licensee from charging the fee to anyone other than the client, or from implying that a tenant bears the landlord’s fee.

Sources: Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, section 43 · Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, Schedule 2 (revised) · PSRA – Letters of Engagement · Minimum Standards Regulations 2020 (S.I. 564/2020) · Client Moneys Regulations 2012 (S.I. 199/2012)

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