Simon calls for major shift in homeless policy
A study commissioned by the Simon Communities of Ireland strongly recommends a move away from the existing focus on supplying emergency accommodation towards the provision of long-term housing and support services for the estimated 5,550 homeless people in Ireland.
The report, Settlement First, claims such a change in policy would also provide major savings.
It estimates that the cost of keeping someone in independent, private housing is just €12,000 a year, compared with €30,000 in emergency shelters.
However, Simon director Conor Hickey expressed concern that there is no current funding mechanism for organisations which provide long-term housing for homeless people.
“Emergency housing is good for getting people off the streets but we have to move beyond that as this report points out,” said Mr Hickey.
Simon acknowledged that housing organisations, including itself, have had an over-reliance on the provision of emergency shelters.
“Meeting people’s long-term housing needs immediately and providing whatever support is necessary directly to the client in their own home is substantially more cost efficient and more humane than housing someone in emergency accommodation for lengthy periods,” said Mr Hickey.
He noted that there had been “huge progress” in reducing the number of people sleeping rough.
One of the problems highlighted by the report is the lack of agreement on a definition of homelessness by State authorities. For example, people evicted from private and local authority housing are not counted as homeless in some parts of the country, while some local authorities also demand that the person has “a local connection” before being assessed for housing needs.
Local authorities accept that the true figure for the number of homeless in Ireland is higher than official data would suggest.
The report also shows that single, homeless men, who constitute the largest single group among the homeless community, experience the greatest difficulty in finding suitable housing.
Overall, single people account for 68% of all homeless people, yet they account for only 43% of housing allocations to the homeless.
Many also experienced difficulties in accessing private rented accommodation because of the lack of single person units and the reluctance of some landlords to accept rent allowance.
Other findings included:
Fewer than one third of homeless people want local authority housing as they believe that its quality is too poor.
A majority express a preference for long-term, independent housing.
10% of all homeless people were allocated housing by local authorities in 2002.
Most homeless people must wait two to six years to be housed.
16% of housing allocations in 2003 by local authorities were to homeless people in 2003.
Mr Hickey said the report also showed that vital settlement support services remained underdeveloped in Ireland.
It recommends greater clarity and transparency by local authorities in the assessment of the housing needs of homeless people as well as the provision of improved and more varied housing units.
