61% surge in Mayo eviction notices leaving families 'at breaking point'

Eviction notices issued in Mayo have jumped by 61 per cent in the space of a year, new figures from the Residential Tenancies Board have revealed.

A total of 134 notices of termination were issued in the county in the final quarter of 2025, compared to 83 in the same period in 2024, a 51-notice increase in 12 months.

Independent Councillor Harry Barrett said the figures were further evidence of a housing policy that was failing Mayo families, and warned that first-quarter 2026 data was likely to show further deterioration.

"Behind every single case is a person or a family facing the fear of losing their home," Councillor Barrett said.

"Constituents are coming to me worried, stressed and, in many cases, already at breaking point."

Councillor Barrett said Mayo faced particular difficulties given the county's limited construction output compared to Dublin and other cities, with supply failing to keep pace with demand.

He also raised concerns about short-term letting platforms such as Airbnb, which, he said, were removing properties from the long-term rental market and pushing rents higher.

He called on Housing Minister James Browne's party colleagues in Mayo to ‘stand up for their own communities and abandon this failed policy’, and demanded effective rent protections and stricter regulation of short-term lets.

Since the introduction of the new rules, a marked increase in housing supply has been evident across the county, with 48 units now available to let, more than double the previous figure before the introduction of the new rules.

Local Fine Gael Councillor Cyril Burke said: "This gives people more options to move into a home that's right for them and will lead to another one on the market."

Councillor Burke, an auctioneer by profession, also highlighted a recent increase in social housing output in Mayo, saying more individuals moving from HAP-supported rentals into council properties had helped ease pressure on the private rental market, thus increasing supply further.

In the Castlebar Municipal District, 12 new social homes were recently officially opened in Ballyvary along with four new apartments at Lower Charles Street, Castlebar, and nine new homes in Carnacon.