A woman who is among the dozens of families issued with eviction notices in a Wexford housing estate has said she is in “disbelief”.

On Friday - just before the Government’s new rental reforms went into effect, over 30 houses on the Hazelwood Estate in Bridgetown received notice terminating their tenancies. 

Under the new rules, rent rises will be capped at 2% a year and more stringent conditions will apply to landlords who wish to evict their tenants. 

On the Hazelwood Estate, many of those impacted are young families, while at least one resident is a cancer patient. 

On Lunchtime Live, local resident Kiara said the eviction notice left her in complete shock. 

 “I have two small kids here,” she explained. 

“Whereabouts are we supposed to go with the already problematic housing as it is? Like there's 11 houses that are on Daft at the minute within the area from Wexford, Rosslare, Bridgetown. 

“Whereabouts are we all supposed to go?”

Kiara and her family moved into their current property in December 2022, which means it is “all my three year old has ever known”. 

“It's the same with a lot of other houses - like a lot of people have children,” she added. 

“Where are we supposed to go?”

The owners of the estate have suggested that the renters asked the council to buy the properties under the Tenant in Situ scheme. 

It is something that Kiara feels is unlikely to happen. 

“Funding is just not there,” she explained. 

“It's 36 houses, I just don't see it happening.”

Another resident, Ronan, said he and his partner have lived on the estate for a decade now. 

“It is our home,” he said. 

“Bridgetown opened their arms up and let us in and we've just been in love with the place ever since.

“We're not out until October 11th of this year.” 

He added that he feels “too stressed” to look for another house at the moment.

Main image: Keys in the door. Picture by: Alamy.com.