AQW 17434/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 25/10/2024
Answered On Date: 20/11/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities for an update on the enactment of section 11 of the Private Tenancies Act (Northern Ireland) 2022.

Answer:

My Department is working on commencing longer Notice to Quit periods, as provided for in Section 11 of the Act. However, as you are aware, the Act stipulates that regulations to specify those circumstances where longer notice periods will not apply must be in place before this happens.

My Department commissioned the Chartered Institute of Housing to produce a research report on those circumstances. The report and subsequent stakeholder discussion revealed a number of complexities which required further consideration, such as, in cases of domestic violence or when anti-social behaviour is as a result of a mental health condition. To this end, my Department is in the process of finalising a robust Equality Impact Assessment, with consultation planned for the coming months.

Subject to the EQIA and other work completing as planned, I anticipate that draft regulations will be published for consultation in the early part of 2025.