A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE in Notices to Quit has been recorded in the second Quarter of 2022, leading Sinn Féin spokesperson on Housing, Eoin Ó Broin TD, to call on the Minister for Housing to convene an urgent meeting on the crisis.

The figures released to Ó Broin by the Residential Tenancies Board reveal that 1,781 Notices To Quit were served in the second quarter of 2022.

This is more than double the 841 Notices in the same period in 2021.

A landlord is required to give a notice period to the RTB and to their tenant when they want to end a tenancy, ranging from 90 days if the tenant has lived there for less than six months, to 32 weeks if the tenant has lived there for 8 years.

Commenting on the figures,  Ó 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.

“In Quarter 1 of last year there were 352 eviction notices. That rose to 841 the following quarter as a result of Darragh O’Brien ending the Covid19 ban on evictions in April last year. Since then the numbers have escalated exponentially, to 1,132 notices in Quarter 1 of this year and 1,781 notices in Quarter 2.

“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.”

The figures did not include the reasons given by landlords for serving Notices to Quit.

Last year however, over half of all such notices were given because the landlord decided to exit the rental market and sell the property.

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Figures given to Ó Broin by the RTB also show that from April 2021 until the end of June 451 investigations have been initiated by the RTB against landlords with 69 being confirmed by the courts.

“All options much 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,” Ó’Broin continued.

“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.”