Cork council seeks housing units to support homeless to develop 'skills to live independently'

Cork City Council is seeking nine housing units, including seven two-beds and two one-beds, within a complex as part of 'transitional arrangement' project

The planned nine units, due to open in April, will be aimed at households 'who may not for a variety of reasons be able to maintain a tenancy' either in private rentals or in housing provide by the council or charities. File picture

Cork City Council is to source specialised accommodation for households which are homeless, or at risk of becoming so, for a period of 18 months to help support them into long-term accommodation.

The planned nine units, due to open in April, will be aimed at households “who may not for a variety of reasons be able to maintain a tenancy” either in private rentals or in housing provide by the council or charities.

The council said the aim of the accommodation was to allow these households time to develop the skills they need to move to living independently in long-term housing.

According to the latest Department of Housing figures, there were 503 adults living in emergency accommodation across Cork in December 2022. Across the South-West region, also covering Kerry, there were 79 families in emergency accommodation at this time, including 148 children.

As part of this project, Cork City Council wants to support households to equip themselves with a number of skills they need to live independently. 

This includes practical skills “which will enable them to look after themselves and maintain permanent accommodation”, and social skills to “increase their ability to interact and live in harmony with neighbours”.

It is seeking nine housing units, including seven two-beds and two one-beds, within a complex as part of this “transitional arrangement” project.

“Each unit will be furnished,” the council said. 

The households will have responsibility for maintaining the hygiene standards in their living areas and for paying their own utility bills.

“Households will be expected to enter into a license agreement with the management of the complex. Rent contributions will be collected by the management and the management will be expected to monitor the tenancies and deal with any issues that arise under the terms of the licence agreements.” 

However, Cork City Council also said a range of supports must be put in place.

It includes: “linking residents to services for housing, counselling, legal information, childcare, schools, health, women’s networks, men’s counselling and support groups where necessary”.

Given what some of the residents will have experienced prior to being housed, the council also said it needed “trauma-informed support”, along with training in life skills such as cooking, shopping and laundry.

“[It also needs] ongoing sustainment of family’s engagement with their community and life prior to entering homelessness, eg school, social etc,” Cork City Council said.

The council added it would enter into an initial contract for two years, with the possibility of two extensions of one year each to the project. The indicative budget is €100,000 per year.