The national rent freeze and ban on evictions will only apply to tenants who have been impacted by COVID-19, under new legislation.
The Government is next week bringing forward new legislation to replace the emergency tenant protections that have been in place throughout the pandemic.
The new laws will protect anyone who has lost their job or seen their wages cut as a result of the outbreak; however, the "normal processes" will apply to everyone else.
The Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said the blanket protections were “simply were not sustainable” and the new legislation will, “focus very, very particularly on those who are at risk.”
“So, people who have either lost their jobs or had their wages cut because of COVID – people in recent of the PUP payment or the wage support scheme, or HAP or indeed the emergency rent allowance,” he said
“They will be able to self-declare under this bill and they will get effective protections up to January next year. In all other instances the normal process will apply.”
He said there were concerns the emergency laws were open to legal challenge.
“Really, I need to make sure that the most vulnerable people during this pandemic are actually protected, balancing that with the rights of property owners too.
“I am pretty happy that this bill will achieve that.”
The new legislation will also hand the Residential Tenancies Board increased powers to intervene in rent arrears cases and adjudicate over evictions.
