Number of homeless people tops 12,000 for first time ever in month after eviction ban lifted

A tent placed in the closed doorway of the former Debenham's on St Patrick's Street, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

The number of homeless people in Ireland has topped 12,000 for the first time ever. 

Latest figures from the Department of Housing show that 12,259 people were in emergency accommodation at the end of April. The figure is a new record for the State.

The figures are the first to be released since the eviction ban was lifted on March 31.

The figures include 1,733 families and 3,594 children. Across the country, there were 8,665 adults in emergency accommodation, of which two-thirds (5,816) were single.

In March, just before the eviction ban was lifted, there were 11,988 people in homeless accommodation.

Advocates feared that the lifting of the eviction ban would lead to a sharp increase in the number of people homeless in Ireland.

Last week, the Irish Examiner reported that the Department of Housing recommended the lifting of the eviction ban to the Government due to the “negative impacts on landlords” who may have been trying to repossess their property while the ban remained in place.

Separately, the department warned that any extension of the ban could cost the State in the region of €500m each year in compensation for landlords being unable to access their properties.

Focus Ireland said that the figures "give the first indication of the impact of the lifting of the eviction ban on March 31".

However, the charity noted that, given the phased approach adopted by the Government, the full impact will be seen in the coming months as Notices of Termination come through and more people are evicted from their homes.

CEO Pat Dennigan said: “As we all know there was a pause on 'no fault' evictions under ban. Lifting the ban did not have an immediate impact on all tenants at risk, and we will continue to see the impact of that decision through May and June depending on the date of the original termination of tenancy. 

Focus Ireland, along with many other agencies and local authorities are working hard to make the Government’s ‘safety net’ measures work, but despite many successes, there are just too many holes in the net and people are falling through into homelessness.

 He added: "We know from previous Focus Ireland research into homelessness, that families may not immediately present to frontline services after being evicted from their homes but may instead be part of the so called ‘hidden homeless’ for some time by staying with friends or family and couch surfing. This means that the full effect of the eviction ban ending will likely not be clear for some time yet. Meanwhile, the problems in the private rental market which triggered the eviction ban in the first place are continuing with no new policy to encourage landlords to remain."

The Simon Communities of Ireland said the new record figure of people who are homeless was not a surprise.

"These are the highest figures we’ve ever seen and it represents an unprecedented number of men, women and children experiencing the trauma of homelessness. The almost 6% increase in family and children in homeless emergency accomondation is particularly concerning."