Tenants in Dún Laoghaire told they have to be out by Friday week
Fear of homelessness because of government failure to implement proper protections for tenants
Tenants in Dún Laoghaire’s St Helen’s Court apartments who are being threatened with mass evictions have been contacted today by a vulture fund and told they face eviction on Friday week following the lifting of the eviction ban which was contingent on the pandemic 5 kilometer restrictions.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett, who has raised this issue repeatedly with the Minister for Housing, has told the government multiple times that there was an urgent need to extend the protections for tenants against evictions during the pandemic- a call which has also been made by Threshold.
The Dún Laoghaire TD said: “I have been raising the issue facing the tenants of St. Helen’s court repeatedly with the government and I have told the Minister on numerous occasions that evictions would soon follow once the 5 kilometer limits were lifted.
“These tenants have faced four different eviction attempts over the last four years by two different vulture funds who are using loopholes in the Residential Tenancies Act to turf people out. These tenants, who are unbelievably worried, include pensioners, children and people living with a disability and others. With a massive waiting list of approximately 5,000 families and individuals waiting up to 16 years for a council house, these tenants face a very real prospect of being homeless over the next few weeks.
“This is an example which I fear will have much wider implications for other tenants over the coming weeks and months. It is utterly outrageous and has led to tenants who have done nothing wrong being faced with eviction in the coming weeks. I have repeatedly warned the Housing Minister and the government that this exact situation would happen, as have Threshold.
“The Housing Minister needs to take his head out of the sand and his government need to bring in robust protections for tenants immediately during the pandemic, but also, more generally, to protect tenants against unjust evictions at any time.”