Simon: Rent freezes could stop homelessness

Rent freezes should be considered as part of a radical new approach to preventing the flow of people into homelessness, the head of Cork Simon said.

Charity director Dermot Kavanagh has also called for a complete review of the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland strategy, and a massive ramp-up of investment in the building of social housing, as he admitted mounting “frustration” over the slow delivery of the strategy.

“We accepted at the height of the crisis that it would take some years to deliver solutions, but we are still talking about it being another two or three years before delivery really starts to take place,” he said.

“And it really seems that the horizon is always moving further and further away and, to be perfectly frank, that’s quite frustrating.”

Mr Kavanagh was speaking after the launch of Cork Simon’s 2017 annual report, which he said makes for “grim reading”.

The report shows a record 1,403 people turned to Cork Simon for help last year — an 18% increase in 12 months and the highest in the charity’s 46-year history.

It shows that an average of 19 people slept rough in the city every night last year, that the number of long-term homeless increased by 10%, that presentations to the charity’s day centre increased by 10%, and that the number of people depending on its soup run was up 14%, with almost a third of those in private rented accommodation and on the very edge of homelessness.

The surge in demand for services led to Cork Simon increasing its emergency bed capacity by continuing its winter shelter initiative right into this year and by opening its day service for rough sleepers on Saturdays.

Mr Kavanagh said that while the various home- less agencies broadly welcomed the publication of Rebuilding Ireland, it should be revisited.

He said the State invested in social housing in the 1950s right through to the 1980s, and that needs to happen again.

However, a substantial increase in the level of State investment in social housing, from 7% to the European average of around 20%, is needed to ensure the required 10,000 units are delivered, and not the target of 2,500.

“If we had that kind of social housing safety net, we wouldn’t have the crisis we have now,” he said. “We need to go back to the future and solve it the way we did before. It is more than possible.

“But there needs to be a much stronger focus on developing preventative measures.

“The area of rent certainty needs to be revisited and strengthened, and the rights of tenants need to be strengthened.”

He said that while Cork was buffered to some extent from the worst of the housing crisis, that buffer is now almost gone, with affordable houses virtually non-existent in the commuter towns, and just a handful of properties available to rent within HAP limits.

He said politicians need to change tack on policy.

“It’s like turning a ship around,” said Mr Kavanagh. “Maybe there is a need to shift the direction in a more radical way than what’s been envisaged so far.

“We need to orientate our efforts towards those stuck in long-term homelessness. If we house them, that will take pressure off the shelters, and will transform people’s lives. We really have to see delivery, but prevention is core.”

The annual report shows the charity supported 171 people into housing last year, helped 206 people into training, and helped 58 people into employment. It also extended the opening hours of its day care centre to Saturdays.