'Real figure is much higher': Almost 11,000 people homeless in latest record monthly total 

Focus Ireland warned that all emergency homeless accommodation is full, with a waiting list in some local authorities of vulnerable families who now cannot even get a bed for the night.

The number of people who are homeless has hit another record high, with charities reporting that families and others are now spending longer in emergency accommodation as the housing crisis refuses to ease.

The latest report from the Department of Housing showed there were 10,975 people in emergency accommodation in September, the third consecutive month in which the record was broken.

The total comprised 7,633 adults and 3,342 children, with charities warning that the impending ban on evictions would not be sufficient to stop the rising number of people entering - and staying - in emergency accommodation.

A quarterly report, also issued by the Department and covering the period July to September, showed the number of families accessing emergency accommodation rose by 52% over the previous 12 months.

And in Dublin there were 457 families in emergency accommodation for at last a year minimum, 188 of whom were homeless for more than two years. The situation for single people was even more acute - 1,515 people had been in emergency accommodation for at least a year, including 733 homeless for more than two years. 

Focus Ireland warned that all emergency homeless accommodation is full, with a waiting list in some local authorities of vulnerable families who now cannot even get a bed for the night.

Focus Ireland CEO, Pat Dennigan, said: 

Unlike many European countries even at the height of the homeless crisis over the last 10 years, Ireland managed to avoid families sleeping in tents or their cars, now this grim prospect is a reality.

Simon Communities pointed out that the number of people homeless rose almost 30% in a year and that the latest figures included a record number of adults (7,633), adult women (2,801) people aged 25-44 (4,116), and people aged 45-65 (2,088).

The national scale of the crisis was highlighted by the homeless charity NOVAS. It operates in a number of locations around the country and in its annual report it said people are being forced to reside in temporary emergency accommodation for “years rather than months” as the number of people exiting this accommodation has “reduced to an unprecedented extent”.

It also said single people aged under 25 - who accounted for 20% of individuals who used the charity’s emergency accommodation last year - were “particularly vulnerable, as they find it harder than other age cohorts to create sustainable pathways to housing”.

The charity's chairperson, Greg Maxwell, warned that the “present housing environment is hostile to our work and primary objective of supporting people to sustain their own accommodation, and whilst a key component of our role is to encourage clients not to lose their personal ambitions or aspirations, this has now become a significant challenge in our everyday work”.

Eviction ban

Support organisations have welcomed the incoming eviction ban, but Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community, said: "Unless the Department of Housing invests in the development of social housing and increases delivery through Local Housing Bodies while the ban is in effect, it will provide no comfort to the growing number of people in serious distress over the security of their homes, and serve only as an ominous ticking clock, counting down to a groundswell of evictions down the road. 

"Also critical at this point is the implementation of a cohesive winter plan from now until March with strong collaboration from the Department of Housing, Department of Health, Local Authorities and NGOs to ensure everyone who needs an emergency accommodation bed can access one."

The government did move to allay fears that any shortage of accommodation could lead to some Ukrainian refugees slipping into homelessness. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing said: "A process is in place for people fleeing the war in Ukraine who arrive in Ireland, whereby they can request to be accommodated by the State immediately upon arrival.

"This process is entirely separate from the provision of emergency homeless accommodation and is being co-ordinated by DCEDIY [Department of Children and Equality]."

Sinn Féin’s Housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin has said that the actual number of homeless people in Ireland is far higher than the near 11,000 figure published.

He said that on most nights, emergency accommodation in Dublin and elsewhere is full, attributing the situation to missed targets in delivering social and affordable housing.

Deputy Ó Broin published a draft circular to ensure that local authorities adopt a consistent approach to purchasing private rental properties where a HAP, RAS or Rent Supplement in-situ has a notice to quit and is at risk of homelessness.

He said that with the winter ban on evictions due to come into effect next week the Minister for Housing, Darragh O’Brien, needs to outline what emergency interventions he intends to take to prevent homelessness.