2020 No. 192
Landlord And Tenant
The Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
Made 8th September 2020
Coming into operation 29th September 2020

The Department for Communities makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 1(3) of the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Act (Northern Ireland) 2020.
See Section 1(7) of the Departments Act (N.Ireland) 2016 (c.5 (N.I.))
2020 c. 2 (N.I.)

1 Citation and commencement
These Regulations may be cited as the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 and come into operation on 29 September 2020.

2 Amendment of the emergency period in the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Act (Northern Ireland) 2020
In section 1(2)(b) of the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Act (Northern Ireland) 2020 (notice to quit: private tenancies), for “30 September 2020” substitute “31 March 2021”.
Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Communities on 08 September 2020.
(L.S.) David Polley A senior official of the Department for Communities

EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the regulations)
These Regulations amend the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Act (Northern Ireland) 2020 and extend the emergency period to 31 March 2021.
These Regulations are made in response to the continuing threat to public health which is posed by the incidence and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) in Northern Ireland and in consideration of the rates of transmission increasing since the beginning of July 2020. As many of the economic support packages such as the Furlough scheme are due to wind down in the autumn, there is potential for a rise in unemployment which may impact private renters’ income streams and place them at increased risk of losing their homes.
These Regulations protect tenants from eviction for a reasonable and specified period of time and provide that landlords must give their tenants at least 12 weeks’ notice to quit a dwelling house let under a private tenancy.