Thousands of evictions set to take effect next month, figures from Residential Tenancies Board show – The Irish Times

According to the latest figures from the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), landlords served 4,741 eviction notices on tenants last summer, with 60 percent saying they wanted the property back so they could sell it.

Almost two-thirds of those evictions, filed with RTB between July and September last year, will take effect on April 1 after the government decided to lift the ban on evictions.

The number of notices in the third quarter of 2022 was a significant increase from the number of eviction notices served in the first six months of the year, with RTB receiving 1,132 notices in January-March and 1,666 notices in April-June last year. However, the latest numbers align with legislation that went into effect on July 6 that requires landlords to send a copy of an eviction notice to the RTB on the same day the notice is served on the tenant.

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More than 1,000 of the eviction notices served on tenants during the summer period were due to go into effect before October 30. These tenants would not have been protected by the ban in place from that date until March 31 and may have already vacated the properties.

However, 3,644 had termination dates from the fourth quarter of last year through the end of this year. The vast majority, 2,237, should have come into force in the first three months of this year but would have been stalled by the ban on evictions. Most of the 645 notices with termination dates in the fourth quarter of last year will also be enforceable from April 1st.

The government introduced the temporary ban on no-fault evictions in late October amid the cost of living and housing crises. The cabinet decided last Tuesday to lift the ban and the government promised to introduce more measures to protect tenants.

Evictions are set to gradually resume from April, although some tenants will remain protected until mid-June, depending on the length of their tenancies.

Most of the landlords who quit last summer (2,845) said they were filing eviction notices because they intended to sell the home. In another sixth of the cases (794 notifications) they or a family member wanted to move into the apartment. A similar number, 738, was due to a “breach of tenant responsibilities,” which can mean non-payment of rent or other breaches of the lease. In these cases, the tenant would not have been protected by the no-fault ban on eviction.

In 136 cases, the landlord wanted to end the tenancy before the end of the first six months. After this period has expired, the tenant receives a right of residence for up to six years and the landlord can only terminate the contract to a limited extent.

In a handful of cases, the landlord said they intend to do a major renovation of the property and require a vacant possession, or the dwelling is no longer suitable for the tenant’s housing needs, or the landlord intends to convert the property to non-residential use.

The figures suggest the risk of homelessness after the eviction ban ends “is much worse than expected,” said Eoin Ó Broin, spokesman for Sinn Féin Housing. “Notices issued from July to September would in many cases have fallen due during the February ban period. A large number of these layoffs are now due in April. That means more people than ever are having to leave their rental homes. There is simply no way homeless services can meet this need.”