Key Takeaways
| Issue | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Eviction Notices rose in 2025 | Tenants faced increased insecurity after the government announced 2026 tenancy legislation |
| Policy announcements triggered fear | Landlords issued more pre-emptive eviction notices |
| Small landlords leaving the market early | Uncertainty accelerated exits, with tenants bearing the immediate impact |
| Regulation is focused on symptoms, not the virus | Gov’t controls keep addressing outcomes, not the underlying issue of supply |
| 80,000+ vacant homes remain unused | Fast, existing supply that could ease pressure is still under-mobilised |
| €14bn Apple tax windfall underused | A rare opportunity to fix housing in Ireland |
Why Evictions Rose Despite “Stronger” Tenant Protections
New figures reported by homeless charity, Threshold, show a sharp increase in renters seeking advice on eviction notices in 2025, with a notable spike in September. Irish Times.
- Threshold received 594 queries relating to Notices of Termination (NoT) in September 2025. This is the highest number since May 2023, when the winter eviction ban ended, and some 611 NoT queries were logged.
- Also, the monthly average of NoT queries rose from 455 in 2024 to 480 in 2025.
This came just 2 months after the Government announced major rental reforms designed to:
- Strengthen tenant protections (including 6-year minimum contracts for new tenancies from March 2026)
- Encourage long-term tenancies
- Expand Rent Pressure Zones to the entire country and
- Stabilise the rental sector
On paper, the intent was clear. But in practice, the market reacted first – especially small landlords (owners of 1-3 rental properties).
Once small landlords believed that:
- 6-year tenancies would become the norm
- Exit options would narrow, and
- Long-term flexibility would be reduced,
many of then acted defensively by issuing eviction notices, taking their homes out of the rental market, or tried to sell up before the new rules came into force.
Even though the March 2026 rules apply only to new tenancies, the announcement effect is what matters.
Unfortunately, the immediate cost was borne by tenants; the same tenants the State intended to protect are those being hit with significantly more eviction notices than ever before.
A Backwards Balancing Act.
In the same June 2025 press release where government announced all these tenant protections, they also announced some new measures to boost rental supply and investment in the residential sector. GOV.ie
This new measure allows new apartment developments to increase their rents based on general inflation (3.2% at the time of this post), instead of the 2% limit. This basically allows institutional investors to have more predictable returns.
- In practice, these 2 announcements cancel each other out.
- Small landlords will continue to exit the market due to new tenant rules, while new apartments are not being built quickly enough to bridge this gap in rental supply.
So the underlying issue still remains – Housing Supply Does Not Increase AT ALL in the Short term; yet house and rent prices will keep going up as a direct result of this policy!
New apartments command a significantly higher price than second-hand homes, and are more likely to be built in urban areas due to how expensive they are. So what this does is worsen the rental crisis in smaller towns while pushing overall house prices even higher!
This is not a failure of regulation in principle. It is a failure of sequencing and scale.
Ireland continues to focus on the symptoms and not the virus!
The Question Missing from the Debate.
Why is it that during a housing emergency, the State is still reluctant to increase supply directly when it finally has the resources to do so? And continues to over-depend on insitutional investors?
Over the last 3 years, Ireland has:
- Recorded consecutive budget surpluses
- Received a €14 billion Apple tax windfall
- A projected 2025 budget surplus of about €10.2 billion
Yet discussion remains focused on rent caps, half measures and continuous over-dependence on the private sector, when the state itself has the power to increase supply and stabilise house prices.
A. Vacant & Derelict Homes – The Fastest Supply the State Is Ignoring in Favour of Luxury Apartments.
According to the 2022 census, there were over 160,000 vacant homes in Ireland, with 48,000 confirmed to be empty since 2016. Irish Times.
Let that sink in for a minute.
In 2025, there are over 80,000 vacant homes – of which 20,000 are derelict. Geo Directory.
Some of these vacant homes are still:
- Structurally sound
- Located near services
- Owned by willing sellers
- Suitable for modest refurbishment
If the state can identify 5000-10,000 easily-repairable vacant homes, buy, refurbish and mobilise them, it could:
- Immediately relieve rental pressure, while increasing housing supply
- Stabilise house prices on the lower end
- Expand council-managed social & cost-rental housing stock
- Use income from council stock to acquire more homes without solely depending on the private sector.
With political willpower, all of this could happen in just 2-3 years!
These homes already exist.
They do not require years of planning appeals or investor confidence.
They require deliberate government intent and execution.
Why the 14Billion Apple Tax Windfall is Important.
The state needs to show bold intention and treat the housing crisis as an emergency.
Allocate the 14Billion received from Apple specifically to deal with the housing crisis. Nothing Else.
If that money is ring-fenced to deal with the housing crisis, the Government can:
- Empower local councils to buy relevant vacant buildings in bulk for cheap, restore and own them
- Unlock small local builders by hiring them to complete refurbishments of relevant vacant buildings
- Set up soft loans or state-backed guarantees for small builders to overcome lending barriers from local banks
- Improve Irish Water’s infrastructure by contributing to its Leakage Programme (As of 2022, 37% (600 million litres) of treated water is lost daily through leaks in ageing mains. This is water that can be vital for homes and construction projects).
- Reduce reliance on the private rental market and stabilise prices
- Give Irish residents long-term stability
This approach does not punish landlords.
It simply reduces the system’s over-reliance on them and institutional investors to provide social and cost-rental housing.
Addressing the Issue of Local Council Capacity
The strongest objection to large-scale vacant-home activation is operational, not financial.
Local authorities in Ireland face:
- Planning staff shortages
- Procurement delays
- Limited project-management capacity
This is precisely why Apple tax funding should be used to:
- Cut through planning issues that could lead to delays
- Recruit national and international planners, surveyors, housing officers, and tradespeople
- Create dedicated acquisition teams
- Fast-track delivery of these homes
Capital without capacity delivers nothing.
Final Thought
The eviction spike of 2025 is not just an anomaly. It is a clear warning.
It shows what happens when:
- Reform arrives only after scarcity hardens
- and the State hesitates despite having the means
The Irish government does not lack money.
It does not lack homes.
It lacks decisive political action.
Until that changes, eviction spikes will become a feature, and not just a failure of the system.
