Slight fall in homelessness as eviction ban due to end

The number of people in emergency accommodation fell by just 12 last month, with the eviction ban due to end on Saturday.

According to the latest figures from the Department of Housing, 11,742 people were homeless in Ireland in February, including 3,373 children.

Figures for January saw 11,754 people in homeless accommodation, a record figure for Ireland. It was the seventh straight month of record homeless.

Dublin has the highest number of homeless people in the county, with the figure rising from last month's data.

In January, 5,946 people were recorded as using homeless accommodation but this has risen to 6,012 for February.

In total, 1,599 families were classed as homeless in February. 

It comes as an eviction ban is set to be lifted on April 1, with concerns this move will increase homelessness.

Veteran homeless campaigner Fr Peter McVerry described the end of the ban as “a horror movie” for tenants and said he was very concerned about where people were going to find emergency accommodation.

Housing charity Focus Ireland said the overall figure still represented a 24% rise in homelessness over 12 months, while the Simon Communities said the slight reduction indicated that the eviction ban was “doing its work”.

Rough sleepers, people in refuges, or people who are couch surfing are not included in the Department’s figures.

The numbers have been published on the evening before the Government’s temporary eviction ban ends, and after the Government came under pressure in the Dáil over its decision to end it amid a severe shortage of affordable housing.

Since last Wednesday it has faced three separate votes over its decision to end the moratorium on no-fault evictions, which it won in all three cases.

Warnings have been issued that housing charities and homeless services are to come under pressure in the coming weeks as the eviction ban ends.

Reacting to the latest homeless figures, Focus Ireland said the lifting of the eviction ban was a "heartless" decision and will lead to a new phase of homelessness "where we are likely to see families sleeping on the street because they have been evicted and emergency accommodation is full".

"Nothing has changed since the eviction ban was introduced since November and lifting it will do nothing to allay fears for landlords as they are selling up in vast numbers because of high taxation and market uncertainty," said Head of Communications Roughan MacNamara.

We expect to see more terminations from landlords who have been unsettled by the Government's stop-start approach to this issue.

Focus Ireland also said the new schemes set to be introduced which have been described by Government as a “safety net” for renters will not be effective in preventing many more people from losing their homes in the coming months.

Simon Communities executive director Wayne Stanley said that the slight reduction in the figures was welcome.

“What these figures suggest is that the moratorium was doing its work, particularly for families, and keeping people out of homelessness,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it’s ending today, but had it continued and the State taken action to step up initiatives to prevent and address homelessness, there was the potential to make some real and sustained progress.”

Depaul CEO David Carroll added: "It is heartbreaking that the number of people accessing temporary accommodation remains high and we know that these figures published today do not reflect the scale of homelessness expected in the next few weeks and months as the eviction ban lifts.

"We are very anxious of what may come in the next few weeks and we are focusing on a number of aspects that may occur — one of which is the health impact of the removal of the eviction ban."