Tenants face eviction threat

A GROWING number of tenants are threatened with eviction because their landlords have failed to keep mortgage repayments, housing charity Threshold has warned.

Kevin Baneham, legal officer with the organisation, said tenants whose rent was up to date were still being evicted. “We have seen several cases since the beginning of the year,” Mr Baneham said.

He called for the introduction of legislation to protect tenants. “I have come across cases where the first a tenant hears that their home is under threat is when they get notice of a repossession hearing. We would always advise a tenant to contact the bank or building society, and to go to the court and make it known they are living in the dwelling.”

Some banks will seek an immediate repossession order despite the fact that a tenant is in situ, while others may try to come to an arrangement where rent is made payable to the bank for the duration of the lease.

“There really needs to be some clarity on tenants’ rights, something along the lines of what is in place in New Zealand,” Mr Baneham said.

He explained that in New Zealand, “when a dwelling is to be repossessed by a bank, the tenant’s security is protected until the lease falls”.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said it was not aware of the problem and had not received any submissions on it from either the Private Residential Tenancies Board or from stakeholders such as Threshold.

“It is worth pointing out that ownership of a property can be transferred while maintaining a sitting tenancy; indeed in the current rental market, which has seen an increase in accommodation supply and a decrease in rent levels, the continuation of a rental income stream for such a property can make sound financial sense,” he said.