Crisis continues as number of homeless people in Ireland tops 17,300

Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

The number of homeless people in Ireland has hit a new record, with 17,308 people in emergency accommodation. 

Figures from the Department of Housing show that 11,851 adults and 5,457 children were homeless last month, up from January's 17,112. In all, 2,609 families are included in the figures.

January was the first time the number of people in emergency accommodation surpassed 17,000, in what housing charities called “disgraceful” and a “social injustice milestone”.

The Simon Communities of Ireland said there has been a “staggering increase” of almost 2,000 more people in emergency accommodation in the last 12 months, with family homelessness up 19.4%.

Simon Communities executive director Ber Grogan said the stories of people’s lived experience of homelessness are harrowing.

“One person told us they have sex with strangers in order to secure a place to sleep,” she said. 

A parent said they feel like a failure and once tried to take their own life. Someone else was removed from the housing list after four years for no apparent reason.

“It’s all so wrong.

“We have reached a point where homelessness is becoming normalised — a predictable, monthly data release, a near-constant presence in the headlines, an issue that is somehow both urgent and strangely routine. As a nation, this is not something we should be proud of.” 

 Ms Grogan said a radical shift is needed from emergency responses to prevention, along with faster delivery of one-bed, social and cost rental homes to get people out of homelessness.

The figures come against the backdrop of new rental rules brought in by the Government earlier this month, with charities warning that more people could be pushed into homelessness with fewer pathways out of it.

“Today’s numbers are the last figures before the new tenancy rules came into effect, and they come at a moment of real concern across the sector,” Dublin Simon CEO Catherine Kenny said.

“We are seeing evidence of multiple catalysts converging to create pressure: rising notices of termination, affordability challenges, and now new legislation changes – all meeting a system that is already operating at its limits.” David Carroll, chief executive of Depaul, said the timing is now crucial for the Government’s forthcoming homeless prevention framework.

“When we look at the fallout we are seeing from the recently introduced rental legislation there is a need to make sure that small landlords in particular are supported to remain in the market as there is intensifying pressure on the rental market - leaving a growing shortage of homes available to rent,” he said.

The Salvation Army said that it expects a surge in requests for help to house families as the new rental rules may prove “too onerous” for many landlords.

“Right now, I have a waiting list of 25 for our family hub, Houben House, which is already at capacity,” said Anthony Byrne, the service manager at the emergency hub in Harold’s Cross, Dublin.

“One of them is a mother aged 63, whose landlord said they had to sell up because of the pressure the new rent rules are putting on them.

“The new rules may have been designed to protect renters, but we are seeing the opposite – because many landlords cannot commit to these longer rental periods, they are leaving the private market and selling up.

“This, I believe, is just the start of an influx of families served with notices to quit.”