34 people, including 15 children living in a Killarney housing estate, face homelessness as their landlord has begun a mass eviction process.
The Cypriot property company, Xerico Ltd, owns 14 houses in Loreto Chapel Estate.
Dublin registered property management company, ‘Home Club’, has issued notices of termination to the every one of the 14 households in question, on behalf of Xerico.
Radio Kerry has contacted Home Club, Xerico Limited and it's parent company, the pan-European real estate private equity investment firm LRC Group for comment.
The 34 tenants have lived at Loreto Chapel for between one and ten years.
Their eviction notices cite different reasons for terminating their rental contracts, including selling the property and ending a Part 4 Tenancy, a type of tenancy that begins after six months and lets tenants remain indefinitely unless the landlord has a valid legal reason to end it.
The eviction dates range from February to June next year.
The evictions are entirely legal, with no suggestion by the tenants that the landlords have done anything illegal.
13 of the children attend the nearby Loreto National School.
Their parents say there is no chance they will be able to rent in the school’s catchment area, as there are simply too few homes available for rent in Killarney.
They have appealed for the 14 homes to be bought as part of a buy-to-rent scheme, although many are not in receipt of any rental assistance.
A change.org petition has also been launched.
