The Housing Minister has welcomed the withdrawal of termination notices served on residents of The Strand apartments in Limerick.

Minister Simon Coveney was commenting after the owners of the apartments decided to withdraw the termination notices previously sent to tenants at the complex.

An amended law, to protect tenancies where a landlord or investor wishes to sell more than 10 properties in a single development, is due to come into effect next week.

That amendment to the Residential Tenancies Act was brought through the Oireachtas in December 2016 as part of the Government’s rental strategy.

The decision by the owners comes after contact from Minister Coveney in which he asked that the spirit of the Tyrrelstown amendment would be respected to ensure that the existing tenancies are unaffected by the transfer of ownership.

Sova Properties replied formally to the Minister to confirm that it would respect the change. Sova will be writing to tenants to confirm withdrawal of the original notices.

Minister Coveney said "There was no legal requirement for Sova to take this approach so I commend them for doing what was the socially responsible thing by respecting the will of the Government and the Oireachtas."