Posted by The evictions were handed out door to door by the property firm last Friday.
12.37pm, 5 Mar 2026
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LAST UPDATE | 56 mins ago
TENANTS OF 36 rental properties in Bridgetown, Co Wexford were told that their landlord was delivering eviction notices because of the government’s new rental rules, according to a leaked video.
The residents of the Wexford estate were also told that the landlord company Patchflow would carefully follow “radio shows and political debate” over the subsequent days before making a “final decision” on their future housing.
A representative of Patchflow went door-to-door last Friday evening, handing out eviction notices to the 36 households. Around 100 people in the 36 homes in the south Wexford village are now unclear about their current situations.
Housing Minister and Wexford TD James Browne has strongly rejected claims that the government’s new rental rules are responsible for the notices, arguing that this was “misinformation”.
Local representatives, who had been contacted by the affected families, were critical of the landlord’s move, with one councillor saying it would “devastate” the village community.
News of the planned evictions was reported in multiple local and national news outlets over the following 24 hours, including by The Journal on Sunday morning.
In the video recorded by a tenant’s doorbell camera – and seen by The Journal – the landlord’s representative is shown telling the tenant he has “bad news” after he answered.
He then directly links that bad news to the changes which were due to come into effect two days later, on Sunday 1 March.
“Have you heard about the new rental rules?,” he asked. “So we’re serving eviction notices.”
He added: “Our view is that they’re very unfavourable to the landlord so we think it’s better just to sell up and get out.”
When the tenant asked if it meant they were getting kicked out, the liaison said “maybe not”, adding:
“We’re giving ourselves the option that we can do that but I tell you, we don’t know how it’s going to pan out over the next fortnight, we’ll say, right. Next week there’ll be loads of radio shows and political debate,” he said.
“We’ll make the final decision then in about 10 days. That’s the way it’s going.”
Other tenants in the Hazelwood estate told The Journal in recent days that they were told similar when they received their notices last Friday evening.
Patchflow has not commented on the situation to any media outlet since news of the planned evictions emerged. The Journal has requested comment again today in relation to the leaked video.
Video raised in Dáil
Raising the leaked video in the Dáil today, Wexford Labour TD George Lawlor said politicians who said the evictions were linked to the new rules were “fobbed off” by the government.
Lawlor quoted sections of the video in the chamber, as he told told Tánaiste Simon Harris that this shows the evictions are “absolutely linked” to the new rental laws.
Responding to Lawlor, Harris said the “new rules are not meant to affect existing tenants”, as they were only designed to impact any new rental contract signed from 1 March.
The Fine Gael leader added that these laws “need to be complied with by landlord” and that “existing tenancies must be respected” too.
Harris added that the situation with the new video “deserves a substantive reply” as he said he would pass the information on to the Housing Minister.
There was further local political reaction from Sinn Féin councillor Aoife Rose O’Brien, who is based in Bridgetown. On Facebook, she directed her remarks at the Housing Minister: “James Browne, do you believe us now? Or are we spreading more misinformation on behalf of the vulnerable families affected?”
Changes for new tenancies will kick in tomorrow – here’s what renters need to know
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, the Taoiseach also said that the eviction notices “came before the new rules”, arguing that there may be a misunderstanding about what was allowed pre-1 March.
Micheál Martin said that the new laws “provide far greater, stronger protection than the old system did”.
Rental watchdog involved
The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) is now examining whether the eviction notices are valid.
When discussing the evictions this week, Browne pointed to legislation seeking to prevent landlords from resetting rent for a new tenancy if the previous contract ended via a ‘no-fault eviction’ within the last two years.
This applies even in the case where the property has been sold to a new landlord, as is proposed under the terms of terminations in the Bridgetown case.
The Department of Housing also stated that existing legislation, specifically the ‘Tyrrelstown amendment’, protects renters.
This covers scenarios where a “landlord proposes to sell 10 or more units within a single development at the same time, that sale is subject to the existing tenants remaining in situ, other than in exceptional circumstances”.
The changes to renting laws mean landlords of tenancies beginning from 1 March can only reset rents to market rates either between tenancies (but only if the last tenancy ended because the tenant left by choice, breached their obligations or if the property no longer suits their needs) or after a tenant has occupied the property for a six-year period.
A yearly increase of up to 2% or the rate of inflation (whichever is lower) is also permitted.
Earlier today we reported how dozens of our readers say they were evicted shortly before the new rental rules came in.
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