Listening to Morning Ireland this morning, and reading Kitty Holland’s excellent article in the Irish Times made my blood boil. Briefly 60 or more families in Tyrrelstown are going to be legally evicted over the next four months by Goldman Sachs. The reason is that a Goldman Sachs linked investment fund, Beltany Property Finance, wishes to sell the houses. As many as 208 families in total may be evicted in this one estate. All of this is legal.
I’m no lawyer, but the relevant Act is the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. The relevant bit is Section 34 ‘Grounds for termination by landlord’. Under this landlords may terminate tenancies on several grounds. One, Ground 3 i the table in that section is this :-
‘The landlord intends, within 3 months after the termination of the tenancy under this section, to enter into an enforceable agreement for the transfer to another, for full consideration, of the whole of his or her interest in the dwelling or the property containing the dwelling’.
I assume this is the basis for the termination of tenancies here (but again, I am no lawyer, so if you know better, let me know).
There is little rental property available in Dublin. This morning on Daft.ie there were 2 properties to rent in Tyrrelstown,and only 400 properties anywhere in Dublin at under €1,500 a month. The odds are that most of these families will have to move, and many will not be able to find accommodation at a price they can pay. The effect of these lawful actions will be to render a large number of families homeless.
The scandal of homelessness in Dublin has been obvious for three years. The roots go back a lot longer, to the crash, to a poor quality, and corrupt, planning system, to greedy and feckless developers, to the decision of local authorities not to bother with social housing, and to our appallingly lax laws on tenancy rights. The response from the Department of the Environment today, that the tenants should use the PRTB to delay eviction, is best described as embarrassing. Clearly the civil service, Minister Kelly, and the Department will continue to sit on their hands, and close their eyes tightly. It is time to act.
Although we have yet to form a Government, the Oireahctas is still there. If our politicians could focus on something other than Irish Water, and various combinations of coalitions, they could pass a quick amendment to the Act, giving tenants the right to continue a tenancy even if a property is sold. This is already the norm in commercial property here, and it is usual in residential property lettings in most other developed countries. Anyone up for this? It would be a very constructive way to commemorate 1916.