Overholding disputes arise when a tenant remains in a property after a valid Notice of Termination has expired and the tenancy has legally ended. This is one of the highest-volume dispute categories at the RTB, reflecting how often tenants stay on past a notice's expiry date — for financial, housing-availability, or disputed-validity reasons.
What an Overholding Application Covers
- Confirming the tenancy was validly terminated (the notice itself must be valid — see "Validity of Notice of Termination" above; overholding and notice-validity disputes are closely linked)
- An order directing the tenant to vacate
- In many cases, a claim for rent or "mesne rates" (compensation for continued occupation) covering the overholding period
Process
A landlord applies to the RTB once the notice period has expired and the tenant has not vacated. The RTB can issue a determination order; if the tenant still doesn't comply, the order can be enforced through the District Court.
Practical takeaway: Self-help eviction (changing locks, removing belongings, cutting utilities) is illegal in Ireland regardless of overholding — the RTB/court route is the only lawful path, even when the tenant is clearly in the wrong.