Eviction ban: Tipperary tenants who get notice to quit are urged to contact council

Any tenant who receives a notice to quit from their landlord are being advised to contact Tipperary County Council housing section, councillors were told at the March meeting of Nenagh Municipal District Council.

Council official Cora Morrissey revealed that 63 tenants in Tipperary have received notices and the council was in the process of buying 15 of the properties.

“Contact us when you get a notice to quit,” she advised.

The council will then establish whether or not the tenant wishes to remain in the property and will ask the landlord if they are interested in selling the property.

“We will look at the property and see if it is value for money,” she said.

Ms Morrissey was responding in a debate on the council’s rental scheme and concerns that many tenants had been hit with huge bills for arrears.

Housing section officer Deirdre Flannery explained that tenants should contact the council immediately if their circumstances change.

She revealed that the council had €16m arrears in rent, a €2.7m increase on last year.

She said rent could increase where tenants didn’t notify the council of changed circumstances.

“We always make sure we work with tenants and don’t want to put them under pressure,” she said.

Ms Morrissey revealed that the council issued 48 tenant warnings last year and that two cases had gone to court.

However, Cllr Seamus Morris said that he was “flabbergasted” by the number of people coming to him with rental arrears.

He said one person had been hit for a bill of €10,000 and others for bills amounting to thousands of euro.

“All had been paying rent. I don’t think they were reckless,” he said.

Pointing out that arrears had jumped by €400,00 over a four-month spell to January 2022, he said: “This looks like a rent review that was not communicated to people”.

Cllr Michael O’Meara said that by all accounts the country was going to be hit by evictions at the end of the month when the eviction ban ends.

And Cllr Ger Darcy also highlighted cases where people had been hit by rent arrears of up to €5,000, saying this had caused “panic”.

Ms Flannery replied that it stated on all letters from the council going to tenants that they must notify them of any change in circumstances.

“We would regularly change people’s rent - up and down,” she said.

“There is nobody we won’t work with. We give homes. We don’t want houses back,” said Ms Flannery.