Rise in number of termination notices, with nearly 2,000 people receiving notices within three months

DUBLIN: New figures from the Rental Tenancies Board show 1,781 tenants received termination notices between April and June, compared to 841 during the same period last year. Housing charity Threshold also revealed that almost 3,000 families lost their rented homes in the first six months of this year. In 55% of the notices, the landlord stated the reason for the sale.

Lifelong tenancy rule

It is understood that the reason behind the eviction was a misunderstanding between the landlords regarding the lifelong tenancy rule. They worry that once the law comes into effect, they will never be able to evict the tenants.

Focus Ireland’s advocacy director Mike Allen said the issue needed to be addressed as it was the reason many landlords were leaving the sector. Landowners are concerned about the law brought by the government as part of the Housing for All scheme. All new tenancies created on or after June 11, 2022 will become tenancies of unlimited duration.

The old rules that allowed for the eviction of tenants that were in place before June 11, 2022 are still in place.

This means that when a phase of six years of tenancy ends, a landlord can terminate a tenancy for any reason without relying on one of the permitted grounds for terminating a tenancy.

However, unless the tenancy is terminated at some point after the end of the sixth year, it automatically becomes a tenancy of unlimited duration. This is actually an advantage for long-term renters.

Government intervention

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said that not all termination notices will end up in an eviction. Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has told councils to buy eviction homes that have been put up for sale if possible.

“Minister O’Brien has made it very clear to Local Authorities that where there is a risk of individuals or families being evicted into homelessness as a result of a landlord selling the home that the local authority will be supported by the department to purchase the home should that be appropriate,” the spokesperson said.

“Onslaught of evictions“

Threshold CEO John Mark McCafferty said the private rented sector is “facing an onslaught of evictions”. “It is imperative that the Government moves quickly to formulate a specific, targeted strategy for evictions to help keep people in their homes and ensures some level of security around this,” McCafferty said.

Meanwhile, Focus Ireland’s Mike Allen said the government intervention is needed to keep small landowners in the market.  He also urged the Government to introduce tax relief for landlords who allow tenants to stay for a specific amount of time.