OVER 40% of notices of tenancy termination for sale of property were found to be invalid in the final quarter of 2022 by national housing charity Threshold. 

Threshold’s impact report for the fourth quarter of the year details how the charity’s advisors supported 17,012 individuals, including 10,555 adults and 6,457 children.

Advisors answered over 11,000 calls and responded to over 2,500 webchats from private renters facing tenancy issues.

Between October and December 2022, Threshold prevented a total of 1,041 households from entering homelessness.  

An eviction ban is currently in place until 1 April 2023. 

Under the legislation, all notices to quit that are issued over the period of the emergency ban will be deferred until at least the end of March 2023.

While notices to quit can still be issued to tenants while the ban is in effect, they will not be able to be evicted until after the ban ends.

However, when these evictions actually take place will be dependant on a number of factors, including the date on which the notice was served and the length of the tenancy.

This also means that notices to quit issued before the ban takes place will not go ahead until at least 1 April.

In the last quarter of 2022, just over 40% of notices of termination for sale of property were found to be invalid by Threshold advisors, while over 60% of notices citing rent arrears as a cause for termination, were deemed invalid.

Just over 50% of notices that stated that the landlord or a family member was moving into the property, were invalid, according to Threshold. 

“The fact that we received over 11,000 calls in the space of three months from the public shows that there is a real need for our service,” O’Reilly said. 

People should not panic or take any immediate action if they receive an eviction notice, or a steep rent rise – they should contact Threshold first. A significant portion of these notices are invalid and therefore the tenant has some recourse.

“No-one should be afraid to legitimately challenge their landlord, and that is what Threshold can help you to do if you get in touch with us.”