Covid 19 has had a huge impact on jobs and incomes across Ireland. Since March 2020, there have been a number of different protections put in place to support tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which have expired and others which overlap
In October 2020, an eviction ban was introduced for any period when people’s movement is restricted to 5 kilometres from their home as part of COVID-19 restrictions. This means that tenants cannot be evicted when the country is at Level 5 of COVID-19 restrictions from 31 December 2020 to 5 April 2021 and for a ten-day grace period after this, unless the notice to quit is for the following reasons:
Anti-social behavior
Acting in a way that would invalidate a house insurance policy
Acting in a way that would cause substantial damage to the accommodation
Using the accommodation for commercial or other non-residential purposes
If you are threatened with eviction, you should call Threshold for advice
There are also rental laws to protect tenants who are economically affected by COVID-19, who have fallen into rent arrears and are at risk of losing their tenancy. These protections include a rent freeze and a 90-day notice period when ending a tenancy. The protections ran from 2 August 2020 to 10 January 2021 under the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020, and were then replaced with the Planning and Development, and Residential Tenancies Act 2020 from 11 January 2021 to 12 April 2021.
Termination of tenancy
Normally, if your landlord wants you to leave your accommodation, they must serve you with a notice of termination. This can be for a number of reasons.
When a tenancy has lasted more than 6 months, the tenancy becomes a Part 4 tenancy. This means the tenancy can only be ended for specific reasons until the end of a 4 or 6 year period. During COVID-19 emergency periods, Part 4 tenancies and further part 4 tenancies cannot start. And these emergency periods do not count towards the time spent as a tenant for Part 4 or further part 4 tenancies, if the person is subject to a notice of termination or awaiting eviction. The emergency periods cover:
27 March 2020 to 1 August 2020
22 October 2020 to 1 December 2020
31 December 2020 to 5 April 2021
It’s difficult to pay rent
If you cannot afford to pay rent, you should not stop paying rent completely. You should talk to your landlord or agent before you start paying a reduced amount.
To qualify for Rent Supplement you must:
Be working (or self-employed) less than 30 hours per week.
Be habitually resident in Ireland.
Be renting for 6 out of the past 12 months (or in receipt of Rent Supplement in the past 12 months).
Have been able to afford the rent when you took up the tenancy.
Pass a means test.
Be in a bona fide tenancy.
I have Rent arrears
During periods when COVID-19 restrictions limit people’s movement to 5 kilometers from their home, you cannot be evicted for falling into rent arrears. The rental protections may apply to you if you are at risk of losing your tenancy and are also getting one of the following:: Getting Illness Benefit for a COVID-19 absence, or
Getting the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme or any social welfare payment or State support to help with loss of earnings caused by COVID-19 (including Rent Supplement or Supplementary Welfare Allowance.
You will not be able to benefit from these rental protections if:
You have outstanding rental payments of 5 months or more
You do not contact the RTB asking them to help you get MABS advices.
A landlord can submit a Self-Declaration form to the RTB to stop the tenant’s protections under legislative powers.
The landlord must include supporting documentation with the Self-Declaration form and send a copy of it and the form to the tenant as well as the RTB.