Tenant notices of termination increase to more than 5,700 in second quarter after eviction ban ends

Landlords issued 5,735 notices of termination to tenants in the second quarter of 2023, according to new data published by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) on Thursday.

As well as showing an overall increase in the amount of notices, the new data appears to indicate a growing appetite by landlords to offload rental properties.

Almost 1,000 fewer termination notices (4,753) were issued in the first quarter of the year, between January and March inclusive.

The latest data follows a controversial decision by Government to end the moratorium on evictions earlier this year, a move that drew widespread criticism and predictions of rising homelessness.

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According to the RTB, the majority of landlords in the second quarter (3,633 or 63 per cent) cited their intention to sell the property as their reason for issuing the notice.

That is in excess of rates from previous quarters during 2022 and 2023, indicating an increasing move among landlords to exit the market.

By comparison, just 923 landlords (16 per cent) told the RTB that a family member intended to move into the property, the second highest cited reason for evictions. Other reasons offered included a breach of tenant obligations and extensive renovations among others.

In Dublin, where pressure in the rental sector is particularly acute, 2,298 notices of termination were issued during the second quarter, a rise of 14 per cent on the first three months of the year.

Two thirds of notices in the capital (1,464) were issued on the grounds of intended sale.

The latest data drew anticipated criticism from Sinn Féin which called on Government to immediately reverse its position on the ban.

“These figures show that the number of people at risk of homelessness is set to grow in the coming months leading to further rises in homelessness,” said housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin, echoing previous concerns that appear to be playing out.

“The government was wrong to end the ban on no-fault evictions. Since April they have been left playing catch-up, and more and more people lose their rental homes.”

Outside of Dublin, the highest rates of notifications were expectedly in urban settings with 720 in Cork and 321 in Galway. Counties Monaghan, Leitrim and Roscommon recorded the lowest levels, all with fewer than 50.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that the best way to deal with any reduction in supply was not to return to an eviction ban but to increase the supply of housing.

He also argued that a notice to quit did not necessarily mean that the tenancy came to an end.

“I think it’s really important to recognise that most notices to quit do not result in somebody being evicted from their home,” he said. “A lot of notices to quit are invalid.

“The vast majority of people on whom a notice to quit has been served are able to find alternative accommodation somewhere else to rent. There is new tenancies being created all the time. That is encouraging too.

“I think the difficulty with the eviction ban when it was in place in the past was it didn’t reduce homelessness [but rather] deferred the problem. So that became worse later. That is not a solution.

“The solution is through more supply. It’s through development of cost rental, which is Government-provided affordable rental. It is increasing the amount of social housing that we build and also putting in place those rent pressure zones so that people’s rents don’t increase by too much,” he said.