Thousands at risk of eviction as Deferment ends

On Tuesday, 7th March, the Government decided not to extend the "Eviction Ban" beyond the 31st March 2023. This will undoubtedly cause more people to become homeless in the face of a worsening housing crisis. 

Not a ban and inherently unfair

In reality the "Eviction Ban" was not a ban, but a deferment, or a moratorium. Meaning that landlords retained all the rights they had before its introduction, they were just delayed a little.

Under the terms of the Residential Tenancies (Deferment of Termination Dates of Certain Tenancies) Act 2022 (the Act), which came into effect on the 29th October 2022, any tenancies which were due to be terminated between the 30th October 2022 and the 31st March 2023 were granted temporary relief. The termination notices served before these dates remained valid and in effect, the only difference being the date of termination, which depends on the length of the tenancy. 

• For tenancies of less than 6 months, with an eviction date falling between 30th October 2022 and 31st January 2023, the new eviction date is the 1st May 2023.
• For tenancies of less than 6 months, with an eviction date falling between 1st February 2023 and 31st March 2023, the new eviction date is the 18th June 2023.
• For tenancies not less than 6 months, but less than 1 year duration, with an eviction date falling between 30th October 2022 and 31st January 2023, the new eviction date is the 1st May 2023.
• For tenancies not less than 6 months, but less than 1 year duration, with an eviction date falling between 1st February 2023 and 31st March 2023, the new eviction date is the 1st June 2023.
• For tenancies not less than 1 year, but less than 7 years duration, with an eviction date falling between 30th October 2022 and 31st January 2023, the new eviction date is the 15th April 2023.
• For tenancies not less than 1 year, but less than 7 years duration, with an eviction date falling between 1st February 2023 and 31st March 2023, the new eviction date is the 1st May 2023.
• For tenancies of not less than 7 years duration, with an eviction date falling between 30th October 2022 and 31st March 2023, the new eviction date is the 1st April 2023.

There is an inherent unfairness in how these dates are applied. For example, if a landlord has two properties, one which as been rented for 5 months and the other for 10 years, and they serve a termination notice on both with an eviction date of the 1st February 2023, the tenant who has been in place for 5 months will now be evicted on the 18th June 2023, while the 10 year tenant will be evicted 2 and a half months earlier, on the 1st April 2023. In fact, the longest tenancies have the shortest deferment dates.

And that's before we look at the other provisions...

What crisis is this responding to?

This Act was passed in the face of rising living costs and homelessness. One goes hand in hand with the other. If people do not have enough income to meet their basic needs, they begin to make choices with the income they have. This can be the choice of rent or heat; food or light. These are not easy choices.

When the Act was passed last year, the Minister for Housing, Darragh O'Brien T.D., stated:

"The government is very aware of the increasing pressure on homeless services, the limited supply in the rental market and the struggles people are facing over the coming winter months. This temporary measure will protect renters who are facing homelessness by deferring any ‘no fault’ tenancy terminations from taking place this winter.

We are also conscious of the impact of such measures on landlords, particularly our smaller or ‘accidental’ landlords and that is why we are ensuring that where a tenant wilfully withholds rent or engages in anti-social or criminal behaviour they will not be protected by this legislation."

Minister for Housing, Darragh O'Brien T.D. (emphasis added)

This would suggest that the Act was passed in the context of both the housing crisis and the cost of living crisis. The use by the Minister of the word "wilfully" in respect non-payment of rent indicates that the Act provides for circumstances where the non-payment of rent was not "wilful", but necessary. If that was the Minister's intention, it got lost in translation, as the Act provides for no such thing.

The Act states that the deferments do not apply to terminations by landlords "where there is a failure by the tenant to comply with one or more of his or her obligations under section 16 of the Act of 2004" (section 2, subsection 2 of the Act). Section 16 of the 2004 Act lists the 14 obligations of the tenant, the first of which is the payment of rent and charges etc. There is no provision for the financial hardship of the tenant. This is in stark contrast to a similar provision in the Residential Tenancies Act 2020, which imposed similar eviction deferments during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and specifically excluded tenants who breached subsections (h), (i) or (m) of section 16 of the 2004 Act relating to anti-social behaviour or a change of use.

Tenants who could not pay rent due to financial hardship during the pandemic were protected in 2020. In 2022, tenants who could not pay rent due to financial hardship during a cost of living crisis were not.

Increasing Rent Arrears and Difficulty Making Ends Meet

According to the latest Survey on Income and Living Conditions, published by the CSO last month, 14.9 per cent of tenants were in arrears with their rent at least once in 2022, with more than one in ten renters (10.4 per cent) in arrears twice or more in this period. More than two-thirds of renters (69.4 per cent) reported having difficulty making ends meet, with more than one in ten (10.5 per cent) reporting experiencing great difficulty.

The same survey estimates that 29.6 per cent of the population are living in rented or rent free accommodation. More than 1.5 million people. 226,000 of these people are living in households with rent arrears, 158,000 in households which were in arrears twice or more, putting them at obvious risk.

Of that 1.5 million people living in rented or rent free accommodation, over 1 million were having some difficulty making ends meet, with almost 160,000 experiencing great difficulty.

The decision by Government not to extend eviction deferment, decisions by Government not to adequately address the housing crisis, and decisions by Government not to provide an adequate income in consecutive Budgets is putting thousands of people at risk of homelessness.