Citizen’s Information Centre give advice to evicted tenants

By Tamara O’Connell

THE Citizen’s Information Centre at the Long Walk in Dundalk is encouraging tenants in Co Louth who have been served with a Notice of Termination by their landlord to seek information and advice.

The eviction ban that was in place from October 30, 2022 ended on March 31, 2023. As a result, many tenants in rental accommodation are now being served with Notices of Termination by their landlords.

According to the Citizen’s Information Centre, on March 21, 2023, the Government announced measures to help people whose tenancies will end when the winter eviction ban ends.

The measures are aimed at tenants who are being evicted because their private landlord is selling their rental property.

Some of these measures are already available, some will begin when the eviction ban ends and others will need legislation to bring them into effect. There are measures for both social housing tenants renting privately and private tenants.

SOCIAL HOUSINg

TENANTS rENTINg

FrOM PrIvATE LANDLOrDS

If you are a social housing tenant and your private landlord wants to sell the home you are renting, the local authority can buy the home and you can continue to rent it from the local authority instead. This is known as the Tenant in Situ Scheme. It is aimed at people who are getting the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or are part of the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) and whose landlords are leaving the rental market. You should contact your local authority for more information about this scheme.

PrIvATE TENANTS WHO WANT TO bUY THEIr rENTED HOME

If you are renting and your landlord wants to sell your rental home, your landlord will have to offer to sell it to you first. This is known as First Right of Refusal. You will be able to use the First Home Scheme and the Local Authority Home Loan to help with the cost of buying the home. These schemes are being adapted so people in this situation can access them. The First Right of Refusal measure is not available yet.

PrIvATE TENANTS AT rISk OF HOMELESSNESS

If you can’t afford to buy your rental home, or you don’t want to buy it, the Housing Agency can buy the home and rent it to you. You can access this scheme if you are a private tenant who has received a notice of termination and you are at risk of homelessness because your landlord is selling. This is a tempo- rary scheme known as the Cost Rental Tenant in Situ Scheme. The Housing Agency will be your landlord and you will pay the same rent as you paid your previous landlord. This scheme will be available from 1 April 2023. You should contact your local authority about the scheme. They will assess what supports you qualify for and give your details to the Housing Agency, if this scheme is suitable for you. It is intended that the scheme will transition to a cost rental model in the future, where rents would be lower than market rents. If you are going to be evicted when the eviction ban ends, you can contact organisations such as Threshold or Focus Ireland for advice. They can check if your Notice of Termination is valid and help you with the next steps. For more information visit www.citizensinformation.ie; www.threshold.ie; and www.rtb.ie.

MATTHEWS Auctioneers on the 15th & 16th of April conduct the clearance auction for the property of Ann Gormley, Granard, at their auction rooms in Kells.

A well-known Huntswoman, hunting five days a week in her prime, Mrs. Gormley, originally from Dundalk, ran a successful jewellery and antiques shop in Granard, Longford for over fifty years. Having recently retired at the age of ninety, she has instructed Matthews Auctioneers of Kells to clear, by public auction, the entire contents of her shop and her private collection.

Pieces range in age from 1760 to 2010 and auction estimates run from e10 to e10,000. Collecting since she was a child, Mrs. Gormley’s collection is a remarka- ble gathering of objects, reflecting her taste and interests over a lifetime.

There are over 1,600 lots in the auction, all of which have been removed to the Kells auction premises for convenience of sale. The auction will be conducted over two days.

Day 1, Saturday 15th

April: Lots 1 - 749 Jewellery & Silver. Day 2, Sunday 16th April: