Focus Ireland has called on the Government to reintroduce bans on evictions and rent freezes as new COVID-19 restrictions are imposed.

The charity says the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 passed by the Dáil in July “significantly reduced” protections for tenants and was introduced at a time when the virus appeared to be under control.

Alert

Chief executive Pat Dennigan said that, while we had so far been successful in preventing outbreaks in emergency homeless accommodation, “a constant high level of alert” is needed to ensure there is no outbreak within homeless services.

“The level of risk will inevitably increase if more people need emergency accommodation as a result of a new wave of evictions from the private rental sector,” he said.

Landlords selling up

Focus Ireland called on housing minister Darragh O’Brien to revisit the legislation and reintroduce protection for families where landlords want to sell up or undertake major renovations, saying there was no measure currently in place to prevent evictions taking place on these grounds.

“While the legislative protections for those who have experienced a financial loss due to COVID-19 from eviction and rent reviews on the grounds of rent arrears are welcome and will protect that category of tenant from homelessness until January 2021, our research clearly shows the majority of notices of termination are due to landlords wishing to sell their property,” said Mr Dennigan.

Focus Ireland has asked the Department of Housing to work with the Attorney General’s office to identify a way forward for further legislative protections in this area.