Housing crisis leaves thousands of 'recognised' refugees trapped in state accommodation

There are 'major implications for the capacity to accommodate new applicants'. Picture: PA

The housing crisis has trapped thousands of refugees with protection status in state-provided accommodation, research has found.

Around 6,000 ‘recognised refugees’, who are entitled to housing supports and who could leave International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) centres for autonomous housing, cannot move out because of the chronic shortage of available social and affordable housing, and inadequacies in mainstream support services, the research by the European Migrant Network (EMN) Ireland and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) shows.

Recognised refugees are people who have arrived in Ireland, applied for international protection or asylum, and received a positive decision on their application, clearing them to apply for social housing. Ukrainians who benefit from temporary protection were not included in the research because they are not entitled to the same housing benefits.

It found that as of January 2024, almost 6,000 people with international protection status who could in principle move on to autonomous housing were still living in IPAS accommodation. This accounted for about 22% of total residents, a significant rise from 2020, when around 14% of those in IPAS accommodation had this status. The report says:

The large number of refugees in government-provided accommodation has major implications for the capacity to accommodate new applicants, over 1,800 of whom were awaiting an offer of accommodation as of May 2024.

The research shows the main barriers facing ‘recognised refugees’ are:

• Lack of Housing Assistance Payment properties (HAP), and need for top-up payments;
• Overburdened housing services, including social housing, frontline support workers, and homelessness services;
• Lack of knowledge or clarity in local authorities about refugees’ rights and entitlements, inconsistency of approach between authorities.

The research also found issues with the dispersal system, which does not consider long-term housing, employment, or services in the area; the practice of transferring refugees to different accommodation after one to two years with status; and a lack of co-ordination and planning for reunified families.

Other issues included language barriers, lack of access to information and networks, discrimination by landlords, and psychological issues. The research did find, however, that some refugees were able to move on from IPAS centres, with around 2,000 people moving on in 2023, up from 750 in 2022.

However, the research which was co-funded by the European Union and the Department of Justice, said there is no mechanism to track the outcomes of this group once they left IPAS accommodation, with concerns from those working in the area that some may end up in vulnerable situations.

Keire Murphy, a policy officer with the EMN, based in the ESRI, and co-author of the report, said the research shows Ireland faces a double challenge, in relation to housing in general, and a more specific challenge around developing capacity to manage inward migration.

This report shows that while targeted supports like housing caseworkers are important to overcome the specific barriers faced by this group, the mainstream challenges make it difficult to improve housing outcomes.

Co-author Amy Stapleton said the good practices they identified show potential avenues to improve outcomes.  

“These practices included multiagency approaches to provide wraparound supports to people leaving government-provided accommodation, supporting access to employment, education, English language learning, all of which are crucial for long-term integration,” she said.