More landlords are sending Notices to Quit to tenants than ever before, according to statistics from the Residential Tenancies Board.

1,781 Notices To Quit were served in the second quarter of 2022, according to figures released by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). This is 58 per cent more than the 841 Notices sent in the same period in 2021.

In the first quarter of 2021, 1,132 notices were sent, showing a dangerous upward trend.

Landlords are required to send a Notice of Termination to their tenants if they wish to end the letting early. They must give a full notice period to the tenants. This notices ranges from 90 days if the tenants lived in the property for less than six months, to 32 weeks if if the tenant has lived there for over 8 years.

Landlords can also evict tenants with just 28 days’ notice if they state there has been a breach of contract. Tenants can challenge these notices as “unfair evictions”. The latest figures show that the RTB might deal with anywhere between 110-150 cases of unfair evictions every three months.

The RTB also reported that they investigated against 451 landlords between April and June.

More eviction notices, less homes

Sinn Féin spokesperson for Housing Eoin Ó Broin said “These figures are very alarming and require urgent action. The number of Notices To Quit has soared in recent months, which will see a dramatic escalation in evictions in the near future.”

In February, Daft.ie released figures showing that just under 1,400 rental properties available were across the State. So, houses are becoming scarcer as the amount of evictions are set to explode in the coming months.

“The Minister for Housing needs to convene an urgent meeting to address this clear crisis in the rental sector,” Ó Broin urged. “We urgently need a crisis intervention plan to slow down the disorderly exit of private landlords exiting the rental market.”

Ó Broin fears that the increase in eviction notices will soon lead to “a level of homelessness that we previously would have thought impossible.”

Elsewhere on District: MASI launches journal to give a voice to asylum seekers in Ireland