Information for tenants in Wicklow who receive a notice to quit

Wicklow County Council is aware that households in County Wicklow who may have received a notice to quit, which is also referred to as a notice of termination, from their landlord may be worried or unsure of what to do.

Wicklow County Council would like to advise anyone affected of the services that are available to them in these circumstances.

• We strongly encourage tenants residing in the Wicklow County Council area, who have been issued with a notice of termination, to contact Wicklow  County Council as soon as they receive a notice from their landlord. The contact details for Wicklow County Council are provided at the bottom of this page.
• When the tenants contact Wicklow County Council, staff in the Housing Department will take note of the termination date.
• The Council’s first response will be to try to prevent homelessness. This includes assessing the person’s position on the social housing list, advising the person on the level of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) they may be eligible to receive, and, in some cases, assessing if the Council can acquire the dwelling where the tenants reside if it is being offered for sale.
• Placement in emergency accommodation will be a last resort, if no other alternative can be identified. For households in emergency accommodation there will be support to assist them to access more permanent social housing supports in the shortest possible timeframe.

The Council has been engaging with tenants who have been issued with a notice of termination, as well as their landlords, and following assessment, six tenant in-situ properties are at the sale agreed stage with a further five cases in the negotiation process. In addition, the Council is assessing a further 14 applications/queries  from landlords requesting Wicklow County Council to purchase the homes with the existing tenants remaining in-situ. 

The Council will continue to deal with notice of termination queries and cases as expeditiously as possible and progress tenant in-situ acquisitions while taking account of circulars and guidance issued by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

Wicklow County Council will be liaising with neighbouring local authorities to deal with tenancy issues that may require an inter-authority approach.

Whilst the Council will, in the context of current circumstances, adopt flexibility in dealing with potential acquisitions of properties with tenants in-situ, any acquisition is subject to appropriate due diligence and checks before any commitment is made to acquire, including, for example, determining that a valid notice of termination is in place, the tenant has a social housing need, and the condition and valuation of the property.

The Council is aware that the Government is examining options to allow tenants who are not eligible for social housing to remain in their homes, including schemes to support the purchase of homes and a cost rental in-situ scheme. The Council will await further details on the proposed schemes from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The contact details below should be used by tenants who may have received a notice of termination or a landlord who has issued a notice of termination to their tenants and who may wish to sell their property to the Council.

The key contact details are:

Wicklow County Council Housing Department

Monday to Friday, 9am to 4.30pm: Tel. 0404 20100

Email: housinghomelessteam@wicklowcoco.ie

Email: tisacquisitions@wicklowcoco.ie