There are only 18 one bedroom apartments to rent in Dublin below €1,200 per month as the date for eviction ban lift looms closer and thousands of people receive eviction notices.
Threshold has released data to Dublin Live which revealed 1,502 residents in Dublin alone have contacted them regarding their termination of tenancy between November, 2022 and March, 2023. The highest number of termination cases was at the start of the year while the lowest number was in December. The charity organisation has also received 410 general termination queries in that period.
The eviction ban will come to an end on March 31, leaving thousands of families looking for new homes. Horror stories about tenants terrified of becoming homeless for the first time in their lives have started emerging, with an interactive map detailing eviction stories around the country.
Read more: Interactive map lets terrified tenants share eviction fears as ban set to be lifted
Campaigning organisation Uplift launched the map earlier this week and there are already dozens of personal stories about people in Ireland confronted with the possibility of becoming homeless. The majority of stories are focused in the Dublin area. People describe their "housing-related anxiety", having "sleepless nights" and "no hope", feeling ill with worry about taking care of sick elderly parents and children while homeless.
Karen from Dublin said: "[My partner and I are] being evicted after eight years with our two young kids. Both of us work [full-time] but rents are so high and properties so few, all you can rely on is luck. Worry and anxiety [are] making us ill and all you feel is shame and despair."
Steven said: "As a 36-year-old male I face eviction in three months after five years at the same address. My mental health, relationship and future are all in jeopardy. There is nowhere to go. Government are not even applying a short term band aid over the gaping wound, they are pouring salt in it and that will be a stain on theirs and previous governments legacies forever. Shame on them."
Radu said: "I’ve been having a housing-related anxiety ever since I moved to Ireland eight years ago. Ran away from an abusive family in Romania. Tried starting a new life here, but my anxiety had hindered any pursuit to better myself. I’ve been on steady full time work ever since I moved here, but it’s minimum wage so no hope."
Another Karen said: "I've just received a Notice of Termination, ending my tenancy after just nearly six years. I am my elderly father's full-time carer and live a few doors away from him to ensure I can provide for his needs, taking care of his health, etc, ensuring he can continue to live at home. I fear for his future once I have to move as the likelihood of me finding affordable accommodation in this area and being able to continue in this carer's role, is slim."
To describe his situation after receiving an eviction notice, Amit simply wrote: "Sleepless nights".
Meanwhile, according to daft.ie, there are only 18 one bedroom apartments to rent in the entire Co Dublin area that are below €1,200. There are no two bedroom apartments below €1,500. However, there are six apartments to rent on a longer-term if the limit is upped to €1,700.
Recent figures released by the Residential Tenancies Board showed 4,741 Notices of Termination were issued between July and September of last year. Social Democrats housing spokesperson Cian O’Callaghan recently told Dublin Live: “From the figures we have already, there is going to be [a tsunami of evictions]."
Cabinet agreed earlier this week to Green Party's proposals to put a "safety net" in place for renters for when the eviction moratorium begins to be phased out on April 1. This includes: councils purchasing the home of those in receipt of State supports and making it available to them as social housing, local housing body or council purchasing the home of tenants at risk of homelessness and renting it to them on a "cost rental" or not-for-profit basis.
Meanwhile, those in position to purchase their home will be able to apply for State-backed scheme which will reduce the up-front cost of purchase by up to 30 per cent, or they will be able to apply for a subsidised 'Local Authority Home Loan' mortgage targeted at low and middle-income households. Additional funding will be made available for these schemes as needed, reported The Irish Times.
These measures have been received with some criticism, with Oireachtas Housing Committee's Steven Matthews expressing disappointment in the lack of detail or instructions on how private rental tenants are to be supported when offered first option to buy.
He also said that likewise the opportunity for an Approved Housing Body to purchase and offer secure and affordable cost rental options should have been more detailed. The Green Party member added that these details should have been a priority for the Minister to issue over the last six months and "whilst I’m confident they will be delivered the lack of detail is causing huge anxiety for renters".
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