Northern Ireland Executive announces that legislation protecting private renters from eviction is to be extended to 30 September 2021

Emergency legislation to be extended from 31 March 2021 in light of current public health situation, says Communities Minister

The Northern Ireland Executive has announced that legislation protecting private renters from eviction during the Covid-19 outbreak is to be extended to 30 September 2021.

Highlighting that the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Act (Northern Ireland) 2020 (the Act) requires landlords to give tenants a 12-week notice to quit period before seeking a court order to begin proceedings to evict, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said -

'I am committed to protecting people from eviction during this difficult time. My focus in all I do is to support those in most need. I introduced this legislation to do just that and to support the wider public health effort.

This pandemic has been an evolving situation and the legislation was drafted to enable an extension if required. Minister Ní Chuilín moved in August 2020 to extend this protection.

Given the current public health situation, I consider that it’s important that we continue to give private renters some assurance at this time. The legislation will therefore now be extended until 30 September 2021.'

NB - the Act, which was originally drafted to be in place until September 2020, was previously amended by the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (SR.No.192/2020) so as to extend the period under which landlords are required to give tenants a 12 week notice to quit period before beginning eviction proceedings to 31 March 2021.

For more information, see Legislation protecting private renters extended from ni.gov.uk