Mass Evictions- inside the Tathony House experience
The Week in Housing 11/05/23
This is a really important piece by Madeleine Johansson, People Before Profit councillor on South Dublin County Council and tenant of Tathony House, Kilmainham. In this guest piece, she provides both a personal account of her experience as a tenant in Tathony House, and a political commentary on the housing crisis, mass evictions and the RTB process. Regular readers will know that tenant politics is an issue I’ve written quite a bit about, and this piece gives a unique insider account of tenant resistance and the politics of the PRS.
Tenants in Tathony House were served notices of termination by our landlord Tathony Holdings Ltd on the 20th October 2022. I was driving back home from my office in Clondalkin when my husband called several times. When I stopped the car and took out my phone he had sent me a WhatsApp message to say that we had got a notice to quit. Being a County Councillor I knew the scale of the housing crisis and the difficulty of finding anywhere to rent in Dublin, so getting that message was like a punch in the gut.
But when we examined the notice further, we realised that this was a mass eviction which, in our view, should be invalid under the Tyrrelstown Amendment, which prohibits mass evictions. The key section of that ammendment reads as follows:
(2) Except where subsection (3) or (4) applies, a Part 4 tenancy shall not be terminated by the landlord on the ground specified in paragraph 3 of the Table to section 34 where the landlord intends to enter into an enforceable agreement—
(a) in respect of dwellings situated within the development concerned,
(b) for the transfer to another, for full consideration, of the whole of his or her interest in 10 or more of those dwellings, each being the subject of such a tenancy, and
(c) to so transfer during a relevant period of time.
(3) (a) Subsection (2) does not apply where the landlord can show to the satisfaction of the Board—
(i) that the price to be obtained by selling at market value the dwelling that is the subject of an existing tenancy to which Part 4 applies is more than 20 per cent below the market value that could be obtained for the dwelling with vacant possession, and
(ii) that the application of that subsection would, having regard to all the circumstances of that case—
(I) be unduly onerous on that landlord, or
(II) would cause undue hardship on that landlord.
The landlord had included the Tyrrellstown Amendment section on the notice, claiming that the company is exempt from the application of the section but providing no evidence to support this.
Immediately we began organising the tenants and contacting the press.
As we began talking to other tenants, it became clear that everyone had been told to leave on the 2nd June 2023, but not everyone had been issued notice in writing. Myself and my husband have been living here for 14 years so we were entitled to the full 224 days notice period.
We quickly got in touch with Threshold for advice. They assigned a senior officer to our case and have been extremely helpful during this entire process.
For us the best outcome would be that the landlord would sell the property with tenants in situ. The other tenants also agree that it would be best if Dublin City Council, or an Approved Housing Body, would purchase the property, like in Leeside Apartments in Cork. Getting Dublin City Council on board was not an easy thing at first. We organised several protests outside DCC offices on Wood Quay as well as outside City Hall. We were supported by councillors from People Before Profit, Sinn Fein, Right to Change and other Independents.
We managed to get a meeting with Director of Housing, Coilín O’Reilly, and head of allocations Mary Hayes, before Christmas. However, at that stage they argued that because only three households were on the housing list, and there were no HAP tenancies, there was nothing they could do. We pointed out that the landlord had refused HAP, which was why there were no HAP tenancies, and that those not eligible for social housing could become cost rental tenants. At that stage it was agreed to have a survey of tenants conducted by Threshold to ascertain the eligibility of tenants.
We had a second meeting with Dublin City Council in early 2023 to discuss the result of the survey. At this meeting DCC agreed to make contact with the landlord in relation to the sale of the building. Since then, our understanding is that DCC have tried to contact the landlord, directly and through his solicitor, five times but have received no response.
At the same time as engaging in the campaign around Dublin City Council we were working with tenants on the RTB process. The vast majority of tenants here are migrant workers who were largely unaware of their rights. Some do not have very good English, and others are not used to dealing with authorities. While the RTB offer interpreter services, tenants first have to navigate through the quite complex forms to initiate their case. We had to produce leaflets in several languages for tenants with instructions on both their rights and how to take a RTB case. We were not able to find material on the RTB website in any other language except English and as Gaeilge.
While I understand that the RTB are under extreme pressure, and this is not a criticism of individual staff members, the process overall has been quite frustrating.
Initially we advised tenants to take RTB cases in November. Many tenants used the online form to do this. However, at the same time the RTB changed their procedures to automatically refer cases to Mediation rather than Adjudication. In our case, Mediation would be no use because we wanted to challenge the eviction on a legal basis under the Tyrrellstown Amendment. This caused a lot of confusion for tenants who were already struggling to understand the process. We were then forced to decline the Mediation and submit new forms to request Adjudication. This meant providing new information to tenants and helping them to fill out the forms.
Again, I understand the heavy workload of the RTB, but having to wait for 5 months to get a date for a hearing is very stressful. For some tenants, a delay in their hearing might be advantageous. However, in a situation like ours, where there is a mass eviction, any delays mean that tenants who are not willing to challenge the eviction are likely to move out. As I write this, three out of the six tenants taking RTB cases have their hearings scheduled for Monday, 15th May. The other three tenants have not yet received a date for their hearing. This is causing a huge amount of stress and anxiety for those tenants as the eviction date of June 2nd draws closer. We would have also preferred to have our cases grouped and heard as one case, since we are all dealing with the exact same circumstances and the same eviction.
As it stands, a number of tenants have still not received written notice and as such have had no reason to take an RTB case. They remain in the property. Other tenants have simply left. Most have not been able to find accommodation in Dublin but have gone to Dundalk, Meath, Portlaoise, or even returned to their home countries like Romania and Brazil. These are workers who have been contributing to the running of the city and have had to leave because there is no housing available.
We are currently waiting for our case to be heard in the RTB. We believe that we have the evidence to challenge our landlord’s claims and to have our notice deemed invalid. Despite this, it is a very stressful thing to go through.
In my role as a county councillor I’m used to helping people who are facing eviction or who are already homeless. I am well aware that it is extremely stressful and takes a mental toll, but it’s very different experiencing it yourself. It really does mean sleepless nights, strange dreams and nightmares about evictions, and a mental stress that surfaces in many different ways. You become impatient and irritable, and find it difficult to concentrate on work or other issues.
Many tenants in this situation simply decide to leave. There are various reasons for this. One is the stress that I’ve talked about. Another is the fear of being physically removed from the property, losing your personal possessions and ending up homeless. Some migrant workers and students don’t even have the right to access emergency accommodation. A third reason why many tenants simply leave without challenging their eviction is the fear of taking an RTB case and subsequently being denied a reference from the current landlord, or being blacklisted by potential new landlords.
While tenants’ rights in Ireland have improved in recent years, there is still a lot that needs to be done to improve rights, and to ensure that tenants can vindicate those rights without fear of repercussions. We need:
· Stronger rights to permanent tenancies, including a ban on no fault evictions. A ban on no fault evictions should include a responsibility on the landlord to provide equivalent alternative accommodation for a tenant that has to leave a property for reasons of refurbishment or sale;
· Real rent controls: rents should be brought down to a maximum of 25% of a household’s income;
· To simplify the process for tenants to vindicate their existing rights through the RTB.
Of course the real and long term solution to the housing crisis is the construction of public homes on a large scale by the state and local authorities. In Sweden they were able to build one million homes in ten years between 1965-75. That’s the kind of ambition that’s needed to really solve the crisis.
However, that would also challenge the massive profiteering by vulture funds and private landlords, something we are unlikely to see happen under a Fine Gael/Fianna Fail government. This is why we need a social movement on housing comprised of trade unions, political parties, housing NGO’s, tenants’ unions and ordinary people to take to the streets to demand change.
If there is a tenant under threat of eviction reading this I would urge you to fight back. Get in touch with the tenants’ union CATU or housing activists in your area to get support and support others in the same boat. If we all stand together we can win!
Events & News
Cooperative Housing Ireland are recruiting a new Policy Manager. An interesting event, with an all star line up, looking at the issue of ‘governing finance for people and the planet’. This looks really useful and different - a seminar looking at ways campaigners and advocates can talk about affordable housing. And finally, the programme for the International Social Housing Festival, which will take place in Barcelona, has been released.
What I’m reading
Somehow I hadn’t come across this book on the Political Economy of Housing Financialization - looking forward to getting my hands on a copy. On the same subject, Brett Christophers has a new book that looks like a must read. And if you’ve been following the fall out of Michael D.’s critique of the dismal science, check out Robert Sweeney’s recent piece.