Consultation on Notice to Quit Periods

Overview

The Department for Communities is committed to introducing longer notice to quit periods for private tenants. Before these longer notice periods can come into operation, regulations must be in place to set out circumstances where longer notice periods would not apply.

The Regulations also provide for

• Shorter notice periods for each circumstance;
• The definition of each circumstance;
• The requirement for evidence; and
• The new prescribed form that the notice to quit must be contained on.

A research report completed by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and subsequent stakeholder engagement, revealed the potential complexity of the equality issues involved particularly for Section 75 groups, including, in cases of domestic violence and when anti-social behaviour is a result of a mental health condition. On that basis, the Department commissioned a consultant with substantial expertise in equality issues to assist them to develop a robust Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) to fully assess the implications and mitigations for Section 75 groups.

Privacy, Confidentiality and Access to Consultation Responses

For this consultation, the Department specifically asks respondents not to submit any sensitive personal data or information. There is no obligation to provide any personal details in responding to this consultation questionnaire. Any information you provide will be controlled and processed in line with Data Protection Legislation by the Department. To find out more about how we handle your personal information, please follow the link to see our consultation privacy notice.

To facilitate the survey, Citizen Space, which is not operated by DfC, is used as a data processor. Follow the link to see details of Citizen Space's privacy policy.

A summary of the questionnaire responses will be published. Individual statements will not be published, and the published material will reflect the opinions of respondents in general terms.

Your response, and all other responses to this consultation, may also be disclosed on request in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR); however, all disclosures will be in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential, so that this may be considered if the Department should receive a request for the information under the FOIA or EIR. 

If you would like to discuss the content of this DPN or the template privacy notice, please contact:

Departmental Data Protection Officer

Level 4 Causeway Exchange 1-7 Bedford Street

Belfast

BT2 7EG

Email - dpo@communities-ni.gov.uk

Why your views matter

The aim of the consultation is to seek public opinion on the content of Regulations, associated guidance and the EQIA on circumstances where longer notice periods would not apply and ensure the Department properly considers equality issues in seeking to bring in longer notice to quit periods.

The consultation documents are linked below. The Department has developed questions to help inform the drafting of the Regulations. Consultees will be provided with a yes/no option and commentary box to provide reasons for your answers.

If you require assistance or have any questions with regards to completing your consultation response, please contact the Private Rented Sector team using prs@communities-ni.gov.uk

The deadline for responses is 29 March 2026. We very much welcome your feedback.

To inform consideration, please find the CIH research report:

Exceptions to longer 'notice to quit' periods in Northern Ireland.

Draft Regulations, associated guidance and Equality Impact Assessment Exceptions to longer notice to quit periods.