Around 20 families are reportedly facing eviction from an apartment complex in Limerick city after receiving termination notices from their landlord just a week before the Government’s new rental regulations came into force.
Many residents at The Park on Lord Edward Street are Polish families who have lived in the two-bedroom apartments for more than 15 years, reports RTE.
The letters, received toward the end of February, inform tenants that they must “vacate and give up possession of the dwelling on or before” 10 October this year.
They also stated that the tenancies are being terminated because the landlord intends to sell the properties, reports RTE.
Karolina Lakoma said she was “in absolute shock” when she received the letter from her landlord on 26 February.
“We were in a state of deep, deep shock because we are here for many, many years, reports RTE.
“We are well embedded into the community, our kids are going to local schools. They were born in this building. It just came suddenly, even though some people had just signed their leases for the next year, they got eviction notices.”
Another tenant, Agnieszka Jagielska, said she has lived at The Park for 15 years with her husband and their two children, reports RTE.
“I was very sad because when I opened the letter, I said, ‘Oh my goodness, what will we do now?’”
She said her youngest child asked if the family would become homeless, and she reassured them by saying, “No, Mom will do everything for you”, reports RTE.
Guntis Klavins said the eviction notice came as a “very unexpected” development after he and his wife had been renting their apartment for 17 years.
“Me and my wife, we both work very hard. We pay taxes, our kids go to school, reports RTE.
The couple have been searching for other housing options outside Limerick city, “but the rent is almost €3,000”.
“We both work full-time and even then, it’s not affordable,” he said, reports RTE.
Labour councillor Joe Leddin said it is a deeply troubling situation that 20 families, many of whom have lived in the apartments since they were built, have received eviction notices.
He blamed the Government’s new rental rules introduced earlier this month for contributing to the situation, reports RTE.
Mr Leddin said the “hand-fisted legislation has caused complete chaos, uncertainty and confusion” across the rental market for both tenants and landlords.
“What’s happening here now is a real human story,” he said. “They are absolutely traumatised and terrified and are at risk of homelessness,” reports RTE.
He called on the landlord to withdraw the notices and engage with the families to explore whether a solution could be reached.
The Park development was built by Reidy Civil Engineering, which purchased the site for private development from Limerick City Council in 2005, reports RTE.
The sale attracted controversy at the time because the land was originally part of the People’s Park and was not owned by the local authority when it initially agreed to sell it.
The park had been gifted to the public by the Earl of Limerick and was held in trust under a 500-year lease agreed during the 19th century between the Earl, the People’s Park Trustees and Limerick Corporation, reports RTE.
The local authority later purchased the site within People’s Park from the trustees and the estate of the Earl of Limerick for €150,000 before selling it – along with adjoining council-owned land totalling 0.44 acres – to Reidy Civil Engineering Ltd for €1.57 million in 2005.
By the time the sale was completed, construction of 59 apartments along with office and retail units had already begun, roughly 18 months after planning permission had been granted, reports RTE.
At the time, Limerick City Council rejected claims that there was anything unusual about reaching an agreement for development with a private company before planning permission had been submitted or approved.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said the department does not yet have the full details about the situation and therefore cannot comment specifically on this case, but advised affected tenants to contact the Residential Tenancies Board, reports RTE.
“With regard to any suggestion that this move was taken in advance of the new rental rules, this is immaterial as tenancies that were in place before March 1st were not affected by the new rental rules.
“Landlords cannot reset rent for a new tenancy if the previous one ended via a ‘no-fault eviction’ within the last two years,” they added, reports RTE.
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