Authority rules landlord can evict tenants over €3.2m renovation

The Minister for Housing has been urged to introduce legislation to protect tenants of an apartment block in Cork after the Residential Tenancy Board ruled that the owners of the building are entitled to evict them to refurbish the property.

Cork North Central TD Mick Barry said that more than 20 tenants at the Leeside Apartments in Cork were facing eviction after the RTB ruled that the notice to quit served by Lugus Capital on behalf of the new landlord, Larea Fa Fund, on one named tenant was valid.

The RTB ruled in an 18-page decision that vacant possession of the apartment on Bachelor’s Quay was not merely desirable or preferable but necessary in order to substantially refurbish or renovate the building as part of a €3.2 million investment in the block.

Mr Barry said that although the ruling was made against one resident, it is understood that similar rulings will now be made against all other appellants resulting in more than 20 tenants in the apartment block facing eviction.

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He said that the residents, who have been campaigning about the evictions since being served with notices to quit last year, will now meet to discuss the ruling and decide whether or not to appeal. Any appeal must be lodged within 10 days of receiving the RTB decision.

“The Residential Tenancies Board is an organ of the State and it has now given the green light to a vulture fund to evict low-income households with children as part of the vulture fund’s efforts to refurbish, hike rents and maximise profit,” said Mr Barry.

“The cost of renting is very high in Cork city and there are several dozen people chasing every advertised property now. The Leeside families have nowhere to go so the threat of homelessness is very real now,” he added.

He said that he would be encouraging the residents to appeal the RTB decision while he also said he would encourage the residents to resist any attempt to evict them while he also pledged to raise the matter in the Dáil.

"I will now be taking this issue into the Dáil and to Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to demand the urgent introduction of legislation to protect residents in situations such as this."