Homeless risk grows as landlords continue to sell up

Over 900 households across Ireland were protected from entering homelessness over the last three months as more and more landlords look to sell their properties.

From July to September this year, National housing charity Threshold supported over 900 households to stay in their homes or secure alternative housing.

In doing so, the charity supported 1,333 adults and 939 children.

For the third consecutive quarter, most of these renters were at risk because their landlord wished to sell the home.

Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty said it was “very worrying, if not surprising” to see that one of the main challenges facing tenants continues to be tenancy terminations and more specifically, termination as a result of landlords selling homes.

“While our incredible team prevented over 900 households from entering homelessness, the threat and reality of tenancy termination continues to be a very real one for many households across the country,” he said.

Overall, almost 9,000 households were supported by Threshold’s frontline advisors on wider issues regarding their tenancy over the last three months.

More than half of the main queries in Q3 2023 related to tenancy terminations, an increase from 38% in the same quarter last year.

General termination queries and queries regarding standards also ranked among the top concerns raised by renters who got in touch with Threshold.

Standards

A new 'NCT-style system' for assuring high standards of rented accommodation has been suggested by Threshold as tenant queries on poor standards continue to stack up.

The charity’s latest report shows that 7% of queries in Q3 were about standards of accommodation, up 2.5% on the previous three months.

Threshold said tenants often report issues of dampness, inadequate ventilation, or poor insulation, making it expensive to heat their home.

The new system would require a landlord to provide a certificate of fitness following an inspection of the property by a registered building professional or Local Authority inspector to the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) before renting their property.

The NCT system would aim to reduce the number of renters living in substandard housing and so reduce the number of cases regarding a breach in standards being brought to the RTB.

Threshold said this reduction could then free up valuable resources to assist in other matters affecting the housing sector.

Minimum legal standards a tenant can expect include a well maintained interior and exterior, toilet and shower facilities in good working order and properly insulated, proper heating facilities, adequate ventilation, rubbish storage, and adequate gas, oil, and electricity installations.

McCafferty said: “At the very least, an overhaul of the existing local authority inspections system is required in order to address massive inconsistencies of approach between local authorities and the difficulty in follow up regarding properties which fail inspections.”