Legislation for an eviction ban is ready to go and should be on the statue books by 1st November, Newstalk understands. 

The ban is expected to be approved by Cabinet and, if passed by the Oireachtas, will mean tenants cannot be issued with an eviction notice between the commencement of the law and the end of March. 

There will, however, be exceptions for those who do not pay their rent, damage a property or engage in criminal behaviour.

Those who have already been issued with a notice to leave their home cannot be evicted if their mandatory notice period ends after the new legislation is enacted - meaning tenants issued with eviction notices this week will not have to leave their homes until July 2023. 

A man finds eviction notice on the door of the house.

Homelessness

In August, the number of people living in emergency accommodation hit a record high of 10,805 - a figure that officials expect to climb higher when September’s figures are released. 

In response, many campaigners have been calling for a ban on evictions - noting that the figures went down when the Government brought one in during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Fr Peter McVerry told Newstalk that he “strongly supports” such a measure and said it was the only alternative to continuing with “record levels of homelessness”.

“The majority of people becoming homeless today are being evicted from the private rented sector,” he said. 

“So I would be in favour - at a minimum - of an eviction ban during the winter months from October to March - as happens in many European countries. 

“Or even better, an eviction ban for two or three years, so we can get a grip on this homeless problem.”

While the Irish Property Owners Association said the real reason for the high homelessness figures was a lack of affordable housing. 

“Our members would be very concerned about imposing an eviction ban for many reasons,” spokesperson Mary Conway told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“What happens at the end of March, what’s going to have changed? Are there going to be more houses built between now and March that are going to take in tenants?”

Main image: An eviction notice. Picture by: Alamy.com