Cork Simon urges action as homeless rate in city trebles

Cork Simon has called for urgent action after the number of people sleeping rough in the city trebled.

Figures released by the homeless agency yesterday show that, from January to August of this year, 110 different people were recorded sleeping rough.

The number has surged since last year, when a total of 38 people were recorded sleeping rough. That compared to 52 in 2010.

However, since April, there has been a sharp and sustained increase in the numbers, peaking in August with 54 different people recorded sleeping rough.

The trend has continued into September with 28 different people recorded sleeping rough up until last week.

The city’s emergency shelters — Simon, the St Vincent de Paul hostel and Edel House — are full every night.

And, with the cold winter months ahead, Cork Simon warned it, and other agencies, just don’t have the resources to cope with the increased demand.

Cork Simon chief executive Dermot Kavanagh said the worrying increase has been rapid, and fuelled most likely by the economic recession.

“Generally, in a recession, homelessness is a lagging indicator,” he said.

“There is no doubt that more people than ever are experiencing hardship.

“People are under pressure to pay rent, and they are finding it harder to find suitable accommodation.

“We are well into this recession and we are now seeing more people becoming homeless.”

But he said the problem can be solved if people are assisted back into housing.

And NAMA must also be part of the solution — releasing some of the empty buildings it has for social housing purposes, he said.

The latest CSO figures showed there were some 3,400 empty flats and 4,800 empty houses across Cork city and suburbs.

Mr Kavanagh said the key to solving the homeless problem is to move people into the right type of housing, in the right location, and at an affordable price.

But he said the government’s rent cap — which limits to €450 per month the amount a single person can get towards their rent — is blocking access to suitable housing.

There are only a handful of suitable flats or bedsits in the city for less than €450 a month, he said.

“The rent cap issue has to be revisited. We would call on the government to introduce a targeted initiative aimed at people who are homeless, and increase the rent cap to €600,” he said.

“This figure would bring just under half (40%) of available one-bed flats and apartments into the price range of homeless people.

“The worst outcome for people sleeping rough is that they would become entrenched in homelessness. We must do everything we can to avoid that, by addressing this problem now.”

Life on the streets

Of the 110 people recorded sleeping rough in Cork City to the end of August:

21% were women;

79% were men;

17% were aged between 18 and 26;

57% were aged between 27 and 44;

22% were aged between 45 and 65;

36% spent one night sleeping rough;

63% spent three nights or less sleeping rough;

75% spent seven nights or less sleeping rough;

90% spent 21 nights or less sleeping rough.