A landlord who erected a 6ft fence around a house in Co Cork has been ordered to pay €2,500 in damages by a Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) tribunal for “constructively terminating” the tenancy.
The tribunal said it did not find the evidence of landlord Patrick Tallon that he had placed the Harris fencing and plywood panels around the property for safety reasons to be convincing.
It decided he was in breach of his obligation to allow peaceful and exclusive occupation of the dwelling, “constructively terminating” the tenancy by the erection of the fencing and in particular “the panels erected against the house which blocked light and access to and from the utility area and to and from exits points other than the front door of the house”.
Christine Hassel rented Cottage 1, Ashview House, Rathorgan, Dungourney, Co Cork, at a monthly rent of €1,100. The tenancy commenced in October 2020. Ms Hassel told the tribunal she was served with a notice of termination in February 2024, with an expiry date in August, but left in June.
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She said a 6ft steel Harris fence went up around the house on April 18th, 2024, that she took it down, but Mr Tallon re-erected it on May 1st and this time “bolted them so they could not be taken down again. She said this caused her and her children a lot of stress and anxiety.”
The tribunal was shown photographs “in which it could be seen that in addition to the Harris fencing, plywood or MDF panels had been erected against the side of the house and blocking light through windows and glazed doors,” the tribunal report said.
The tenant said the house was completely boarded up, and she was prevented from getting in other than through the front door.
“She said that the sittingroom and bathroom windows were primarily affected and the whole thing was very frightening and intimidating,” according to the tribunal report.
Mr Tallon told the tribunal there were problems with the water supply and that he had engaged a well-drilling contractor who bored a hole into the bedrock behind the house.
“He said that he had to put up Harris fencing around the house in order to secure the site where deep holes in the ground created a dangerous potential hazard,” the tribunal report said.
Panels were put against the house to protect the windows and glazed door from chips that might fly from the drilling, the tribunal was told. In the event the water problem was resolved with the installation of a more powerful pump.
The tribunal decided the notice of termination served on Ms Hassel was invalid as Mr Tallon had said a friend of his was currently living in the house and he intended to occupy it himself “at some point in the future”.
The law provided that a notice of termination can be served when a property was actually needed by the owner or a family member for their own use, not so it could be occupied whenever it was “desirable or convenient”.
The tribunal decided Ms Hassel left the property in June because her “continued occupation of the dwelling became so difficult that she was forced to vacate”.
Given the nature of the inconvenience caused, the tribunal decided damages of €2,500 should be awarded. Ms Hassel had been able to secure alternative accommodation.
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