More than 4,000 notices to quit served in final quarter of 2022, figures show

More than 4,000 notices to quit were recorded in the final three months of 2022, new figures show amid warnings of a “tsunami” of evictions due in the coming months.

As the government’s temporary winter eviction ban was lifted on Saturday, warnings were issued that homeless services could buckle under a spike in demand.

Quarterly-issued figures published by the Residential Tenancies Board on Monday show that during October, November and December some 4,329 notices to quit were sent to tenants.

In 58% of cases, the reason given for issuing the notice to quit was because the landlord intends to sell the property, while a further 16% said that the landlord or a family member intends on moving into the property.

Almost half of the notices were issued in Dublin (43.2%), while 10.9% were issued in Cork, 6.7% in Galway and 4.7% in Limerick.

In the third quarter, 4,741 notices to quit were issued, which compares to 1,600 notices in the second quarter of 2022.

Responding to the figures, Sinn Fein’s housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin called for the no-fault evictions ban to be reinstated.

He said it was “significant” that 3,329 of the Q4 notices are due to fall in April, May and June.

“This is on top of the almost 3,000 notices issued in Q3 which also start to fall due from April,” he said.

“This is huge number of eviction notices. While a small number of people will secure alternative private rental accommodation, most will not.

“Local authorities are already at breaking point.

“Our emergency accommodation system will simply not be able to cope with any significant increase in homeless presentations. Many people will be forced to overhold and in some cases to sleep rough.”

SocDems TD Cian O’Callaghan said Ireland was facing “a tsunami” of more than 9,000 evictions in the coming months.

“Thousands of people across the country are competing for a handful of available rental properties. This is causing immense stress to those who are facing into eviction with nowhere to go,” he said.