LAST UPDATE | 19 Apr 2023

HOUSING CHARITY THRESHOLD has said that 75% of Notices to Quit their advisors dealt with that cited renovation were deemed invalid. 

Among the new clients who made contact with Threshold in the first three months of this year, 37% had received a Notice of Termination from their landlord.

Over half of private renters who contacted Threshold between January and March also reported issues related to the security of their tenancy.

While sale of property remains the most common reason landlords end a tenancy, Threshold advisors found that 41% of such notices that were presented to them in the first quarter of this year were found to be invalid.

Two thirds of notices citing the requirement of the home for use by the landlord or relatives were found invalid by Threshold advisors, while 75% of notices citing renovation as the reason for the notice were deemed invalid.

Overall, Threshold reported that tenancy termination was the largest concern for private renters in the first three months of this year. 

In total, Threshold supported over 1,200 households in first quarter of this year.

That’s the highest number the charity has recorded since it started publishing tis quarterly impact reports in quarter two of 2021.

In the first three months of this year, Threshold said it supported 1,262 households to stay in their homes or secure alternative housing.

The housing charity added that this prevented 1,727 adults and 1,310 children from facing homelessness between January and March.

Threshold also supported over 9,000 households in the first quarter of the year, which equates to over 12,000 adults and more than 8,000 children. 

This support is offered through advisors responding to queries and assessing notices of termination and rent reviews.

Over this period, Threshold advisors answered over 11,500 calls and responded to over 2,000 webchats from private renters facing challenges in their tenancy.

The charity added that over 2,000 new clients who contacted Threshold in the first quarter of this year were at risk of homelessness, with a majority in this situation due to landlord’s selling the property.

Threshold’s national advocacy manager Ann-Marie O’Reilly described the figures as “extremely worrying to see… particularly while an eviction ban was in place.”

Commenting on the latest quarterly impact report, Threshold’s national advocacy manager Ann-Marie O’Reilly said: “It is extremely worrying to see record levels of households requiring immense levels of support in their tenancies in the first quarter of this year, particularly while an eviction ban was in place.

“This truly indicates the level of the crisis we are facing in this country.”

O’Reilly also noted that Threshold had “called for key recommendations to ease pressures in the private rental market” following the lifting of the eviction ban”.

O’Reilly said it was “positive to see that the Government has put measures in place, such as expanding the “purchase with tenant in situ” scheme to those eligible for cost-rental housing”.

She added that “retaining small landlords in the private rental sector is one of many critical elements in addressing the housing crisis”.

However, while O’Reilly welcomed the Government’s consideration of tax breaks for small landlords in the upcoming Budget, she added that it is “essential that any tax breaks provided are in exchange for increased security of tenure”.

“We are continuing to see the same issues for renters arise quarter after quarter,” said O’Reilly, “with the sale of rental homes by landlords, as they exit the private rental market, remaining as the most common issue.”

She urged any private renter who is “facing challenges in their tenancy” or who has any queries about their rights as a tenant to “contact Threshold immediately”.

“There are laws out there that offer protection and our advisors are very familiar with them and their application,” added O’Reilly.