The number of renters ordered to leave their homes has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

New Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) figures show that 1,781 tenants were issued with Notices of Termination (NOT) in the second quarter of this year.

That’s more than double the 841 notices that were issued in the same period last year.

The figures, released to Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin, show that the number of NOTs issued has increased steadily for the last five quarters:

• Q2 2021: 841
• Q3 2021: 887
• Q4 2021: 958
• Q1 2022: 1,132
• Q2 2022: 1,781

In a statement, Deputy Ó Broin said the figures suggest Ireland will soon be faced with the worst levels of homeless we’ve ever seen.

“On the basis of the figures released to me today the number of single people and families being evicted will increase every month for the remainder of this year and into 2023,” he said.

“This will lead to a level of homelessness that we previously would have thought impossible. I will be writing to the Minister for Housing today urging him to act and act now.”

Emergency meeting

He called for an emergency meeting with all stakeholders in response and insisted all options, including a ban on evictions, must be on the table.

“The Minister for Housing needs to convene an urgent meeting to address this clear crisis in the rental sector, he said.

“This meeting must happen immediately and include the RTB, tenants and landlord representative organisations and opposition housing spokespersons.

“We urgently need a crisis intervention plan to slow down the disorderly exit of private landlords exiting the rental market.

“All options much be on the table for consideration – including a temporary ban on evictions, an accelerated tenant-in-situ purchase scheme by Local Authorities, an acceleration of social housing delivery and tax reform in the private rental sector.”

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Deputy Ó Broin said there are a variety of reasons for the small landlord exodus.

“There are accidental landlords – people who never wanted to be a landlord but got trapped in negative equity. They are obviously selling up because there’s positive equity back in the market.

“There are single property landlords who never really wanted the rental yield. They wanted a a cash lump sum, a contribution towards their pension. They are cashing out.

“But there are also other single-property landlords who are leaving and there is a variety of reasons they will explain for those.”

Homeless

The latest homeless figures show there were 10,492 people accessing emergency accommodation in June.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said the figures were “very concerning” and said the delivery of new social housing and boosting overall supply was key to addressing the crisis.

Last week, Newstalk talked to a number of families who were on the verge of homelessness, including one mother whose teenage son has significant special needs.

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