'Our time is getting shorter and we still have nowhere to go': Fears heightened as eviction ban to expire

Irish Property Owners Association said it regrets the decision to lift the ban had not been made sooner 'in order to stem the exodus of landlords from the property rental market'. 

With the eviction ban set to expire on March 31, charities have warned the lifting of the ban will make “a bad situation worse” while landlords “regret” the decision had not been made sooner.

There were 11,754 homeless people in January, the seventh month in a row reaching a record high of those in emergency accommodation which prompted calls by several charities and TDs for the eviction ban to be extended.

Housing charity Threshold chief executive John-Mark McCafferty said an extension of the ban would have been the "least worst move”, saying the eviction ban, which was enacted in October 2022, was not a “silver bullet”.

“In either scenario, there are negative consequences for renters in the short and long term.

“We originally argued that the ban could provide breathing space for positive changes and improvements in supply to take place,” he said.

Mr McCafferty said the number of families and people in homelessness has increased rather than decreased and added: “Ending the ban will likely result in making a bad situation worse, in the short run.”

“Can the Government give assurances that there will be enough emergency accommodation in local authorities to host the families and individuals who will lose their rented homes after the ban is lifted?” he said.

One man, who wishes to remain anonymous, lives near Fermoy in Cork with his partner and four children and is paying €1,200 in rent, which is supported in part by Hap.

The family was served a notice of termination in September and was required to leave at the end of March, however, following the eviction ban, this was extended to the beginning of May.

“It’s not enough because the situation is very difficult,” he said.

When he received the notice of termination, he contacted all agents in the area, while he and his wife still look online every day to no avail.

He said properties were not being put on websites despite being available because tenants were lined up while the house search is made all the more difficult due to being on the Hap scheme.

“They’re not open to Hap tenants, one landlord told me straight away ‘no’,” he said, while at a separate viewing, another landlord’s facial expression told him all he needed to know once he said he was on the scheme.

The man, who said he is “trapped” and “depressed”, does not know where his family will go if they don’t secure a different property within the next two months.

“Our time is getting shorter and we still have nowhere to go. It’s very stressful,” he said, adding: “I don’t know what I will do, but I won’t put my family out on the street and I won’t empty the property if I have no place to move to.” 

The 39-year-old said he was employed full time but his income does not allow him to buy their own home.

With all four children in local schools, he fears it would be “very hard” for them if they had to leave the area.

He said families should have a minimum of nine months’ notice going forward to “have a better chance”.

‘An inadequate policy response’ 

Meanwhile, chairperson of the Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) Mary Conway said the association regrets the decision to lift the ban had not been made sooner “in order to stem the exodus of landlords from the property rental market”. 

“The eviction ban is an inadequate policy response. The Government has already introduced four versions of it over the past few years and it has had no discernible impact whatsoever on the homelessness figures, in fact, the opposite is true,” she said.

Ms Conway said the narrative that landlords are selling out at the top of the market is “misleading and dangerous” and the Government has failed to consider the cost pressures on landlords, arising from rising mortgage interest rates, and inflationary pressures “which are exacerbated by current regulatory burdens and tax treatment of the sector.” 

Ms Conway said the “continual interference” in landlords' constitutional property rights has caused “enormous concern” among the members of the IPOA, some of whom were independently considering a legal challenge to any further extension of an eviction ban.

“The continual erosion of IPOA members' legal rights is a situation we will not stand idly by and watch. The creation of any further unfairness will result in us exploring all avenues to protect our position.

“Private landlords are of strategic importance to the Government in solving the housing supply issue and it’s about time they stopped denying this,” she said.

Ms Conway said a “fair balanced regulatory system” was necessary for both landlord and tenant.

“The IPOA recognises the challenges wrought by current circumstances, and we want to be a partner of Government, as it looks to increase supply levels of rental accommodation.

“However, a fifth iteration of an eviction ban must be recognised as part of the problem rather than the solution,” she said.