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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Ciara Phelan

Calls for eviction ban as number of Irish renters forced out of homes doubles in a year

The number of renters being forced to leave their house by their landlords has more than doubled in the last year.

Almost 3,000 notices of termination were received in the first half of 2022, compared to over 1,800 in the final six months of 2021.

According to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), most landlords are exiting the market because they want to sell their property.

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However, the surge in eviction notices has now instigated fresh calls for a ban on evictions.

Sinn Fein’s housing spokesman Eoin O’Broin said: “These figures are very alarming and require urgent action. The number of Notices To Quit has soared in recent months, which will see a dramatic escalation in evictions in the near future.

“The Minister for Housing needs to convene an urgent meeting to address this clear crisis in the rental sector.

!This meeting must happen immediately and include the Residential Tenancies Board, tenants and landlords representative organisations and opposition housing spokespersons.

“We urgently need a crisis intervention plan to slow down the disorderly exit of private landlords exiting the rental market.

“All options must be on the table for consideration including a temporary ban on evictions, an accelerated tenant in situ purchase scheme by Local Authorities, an acceleration of social housing delivery and tax reform in the private rental sector.

“On the basis of the figures released to me, the number of single people and families being evicted will increase every month for the remainder of this year and into 2023.

"This will lead to a level of homelessness that we previously would have thought impossible.

“I will be writing to the Minister for Housing urging him to act and act now.”

During the pandemic, landlords could not issue a Notice of Termination.

The eviction moratorium was lifted in April 2021. The number of Notices of Terminations in the first quarter of that year was 352, however in the second quarter, following the lifting of the moratorium, they more than doubled to 841.

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