Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021
322. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the number of families in counties Longford and Westmeath on notice to quit who have less than three months before they have to vacate the property. [44655/20]
View answerThe information requested is not available in my Department.
The Residential Tenancies Act 2020 was enacted and came into operation on 24 October 2020 to help mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on tenants and to support the efforts of Government in restricting the movement of people in order to suppress the spread of Covid- 19. The Act modifies the operation of the Residential Tenancies Acts 2004-2020 to prevent any notices of termination served by landlords, in all but limited cases such as anti-social behaviour, from taking effect in geographical locations and during periods specified by the Minister for Health in Regulations made by him under section 31A of the Health Act 1947 in respect of which a restriction applies on the movement of people outside a 5 km radius of their place of residence. The tenancy protections also apply during the 10 days directly following the period specified by the Minister for Health in the aforementioned Regulations.
A moratorium on evictions taking place is in operation throughout the country from 31 December 2020 to 10 February 2021, with limited exceptions. The provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act 2020 have re-activated on foot of the 5km restriction on people’s movements under the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020 - Statutory Instrument (S.I.) No. 701 of 2020.
Separately, the provisions of Part 3 (Residential Tenancies) of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 came into effect on 11 January 2021 to provide for temporary modifications to the operation of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to provide, subject to certain conditions, that during the period from 11 January to 12 April 2021 a 90 day (rather than the usual 28 days) termination notice period applies, where a tenant is in rent arrears due to Covid-19 and is at risk of losing their tenancy. The earliest termination date allowed in such circumstances is 13 April 2021. Rent increases are prohibited for relevant tenancies until 13 April 2021, with no back-dating allowed. These new protections are designed to better balance the legal rights of landlords and tenants.
My Department has published a guidance document, Part 3 (Residential Tenancies) of the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies, Act 2020 - Guidance for Landlords and Tenants, which sets out exactly what is expected as the rental protections under the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 expire, and provides details on the new protections for tenants in rent arrears and the income and other supports available to tenants and landlords. The guidance document clearly explains the new rent arrears procedure for both landlords and tenants facing rent arrears and is available on the RTB's website - www.rtb.ie.
