Crawford Square tenants facing immnent homelessness

A significant number of tenants in rental accommodation in Derry’s Crawford Square are facing imminent homelessness having been served with Notices to Quit.

The tenants currently living in the ten apartments contained within numbers 5 and 6 Crawford Square were told they had to leave their homes by St Patrick’s Day.

A Housing Executive spokesperson said it had recently been made aware of the Crawford Square Notice to Quit situation.

Speaking to The Derry News, one of the impacted tenants who wished to remain anonymous, said they had signed the initial contract for the tenancy with Embassy Property Limited, the correspondence address of which is The Embassy Building on Derry’s Strand Road. They subsequently paid their rent to Trinity Estate Agents in the city.

“We received Notice to Quit letters on January 22, 2026.

“We were told the building had been sold and we had to vacate it by March 17, 2026,” the tenant explained.

“There are people who have lived here for six and seven years.

“When I got the Notice to Quit, my heart sank. I have experience regarding housing and I knew how difficult it was going to be to find new accommodation.

“Everyone who got a Notice to Quit was shocked. There are people here who have nowhere to go.

“Rents in the city are sky-high but not only that, if you go to view a property through another estate agent, you need a guarantor. You need somebody who is a homeowner and within working age, and they have to provide all of their finance documents, to be a guarantor. It is a massive ask.

“We had asked if we could negotiate with the new owner to stay but they refused to tell us the names of the new owners. I think, in the middle of a housing crisis you’ve got a landlord making money off the backs of working people. It is a struggle at the best of times and then to be hit with this is shocking.”

Derry City and Strabane District councillor Shaun Harkin confirmed he has spoken to the affected tenants.

“They were shocked at the Notice to Quit and were left extremely anxious about what would come next,” Cllr Harkin said.

“It is unfair for long-term tenants to be told they will be put out of their accommodation amid a housing scarcity crisis and when private rental costs are exorbitant.

“Some of the tenants forced out by March 17 will join the more than 6,300 households and individuals on the housing waiting list. This will only pile more pressure on an already completely overstretched Housing Executive, which will scramble to find alternative accommodation for them.

“Private rental options are severely limited, and the cost has soared by almost 10% annually in recent years. This prices a lot of people and families out. For all these reasons, I made the case to the landlord for the tenants to be able to stay but unfortunately, I got nowhere. People deserve to be treated much better than this.”

The Poeple Before Profit councillor added he had contacted the landlord - Trinity / Martin Bros “to understand why the tenancies were being ended and to make the case for the Notice to Quit to be withdrawn”.

“That engagement was frustrating with a lot of vagueness and lack of concern for the impact this would have on the sitting tenancies,” said Cllr Harkin.

“I was told there are no plans by the landlord / owners to turn 5 /6 Crawford Square into student housing in partnership with Ulster University.

“Housing Executive officials and neighbours have also raised concerns with me about what will happen to Crawford Square tenants when alternative accommodation options are so scarce, rental costs so expensive and when there are record numbers of families and households on the housing waiting list. It isn’t fair.”

A Housing Executive spokesperson said it had been made aware of the Crawford Square Notice to Quit situation recently.
“We would encourage anyone in need of assistance to contact us, added the spokesperson. During office hours, call: 03448 920 900 or out of office hours service (Monday to Friday after 5.00pm and weekends) call: 03448 920 908.”

The Derry News also contacted Trinity Estate Agents regarding the Crawford Square Notices to Quit.

Trinity Estate Agents were asked if numbers 5 and 6, Crawford Square were being sold or had been sold, was there no opportunity for the sitting tenants to negotiate to continue to rent their homes from the new owners?

They were also asked what course of action was open to the tenants who would find themselves without accommodation as a result of the sale of the properties?

Trinity Estate Agents were also asked if the new owners were looking for vacant possession in order to turn the properties into Airbnbs or if they were looking to develop student accommodation for Ulster University, Magee?

At the time of going to print, no reply had been received from Trinity Estate Agents.