More than 19,000 households issued with eviction notice last year, new figures show
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More than 19,000 Irish households were issued with an eviction notice last year, new figures have revealed.
The Residential Tenancies Board said the last three months of 2023 saw 4,005 notices to quit given to renters across the country, with the landlord selling up cited as the reason in well over half of cases.
In 2023, the number of eviction notices issued to tenants peaked in the second quarter following the Government decision to lift the no-fault eviction ban with 5,735 notices issued.
In the first quarter of the year, 4,753 eviction notices were issued while 4,518 were issued in the the third quarter.
Charities and the opposition urged the Government not to lift the ban, with figures published in September showing that at least 180 families presented as homeless due to a no-fault eviction in the three months after the controversial decision took effect.
In October, November and December, while the landlord selling was the reason cited in many cases, there were a further 621 tenancies issued an eviction notice due to a breach of tenant obligations.
A further 609 eviction notices were issued by landlords who intended on moving either themselves or a family member into the property.
There were also small numbers of cases where the landlord said they wanted to substantially renovate or refurbish the property (72 cases) and where the dwelling was “no longer suitable to the accommodation needs of the tenants” (33).
Breaking down by county, Dublin had by far the highest number of eviction notices issued in the fourth quarter of 2023, with 1,617.
The next highest was Cork, with 438 eviction notices, and Galway, with 260.
Last year, the reported the Department of Housing recommended the lifting of the eviction ban to the Government due to the “negative impacts on landlords”, who may have been trying to repossess their property while the ban remained in place.
Separately, the department warned any extension of the ban could cost the State in the region of €500m each year in compensation for landlords being unable to access their properties.
The Government has consistently ruled out reintroducing the no-fault eviction ban, but it has remained high on the political agenda in recent months.
Last weekend, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns told her party conference that, in Government, her party would reintroduce the ban, along with a three-year rent freeze. She also indicated it would be a red line for her party in any future government negotiations.
During Leader’s Questions this week, she pressed the Taoiseach on the increase in child homelessness under the lifetime of the current Government.
Ms Cairns asked the Taoiseach: “How, four years into this Government, are we still seeing so many lives devastated by homelessness? How is solving this crisis not the primary focus of your Government?”
Mr Varadkar said the Social Democrat proposals would not address the main cause of homelessness in the country. which he added was not primarily driven by evictions in the private rental sector.
He said: “The main cause of homelessness in Ireland, unfortunately, is family breakdown.
“And no matter who’s in Government, it’s very hard to reduce the number of families that are breaking down at any given time.”
The Taoiseach previously said reintroducing the ban during the winter would lead to a "glut" of evictions in 2024.