Homelessness up 910% in Cork since 2014

Family homelessness has risen by 910% since 2014, while expenditure on emergency accommodation has more than doubled in the last five years in Cork and Kerry, a new report has shown.

The latest Focus on Homelessness report for the South West (Cork and Kerry) reveals a troubling rise in family and child homelessness, alongside soaring expenditure on emergency accommodation. 

“While adult-only homelessness continues to grow, the most urgent concern is the sharp increase in families and children entering emergency services, often for prolonged periods,” Focus Ireland said.

The report found that in Cork and Kerry, family homelessness has risen by 120% since 2021 and by 910% since 2014, and children in emergency accommodation have increased by 122.3% since 2021.

One in four families in emergency accommodation stayed there for over 12 months in 2025, compared to just 3.3% in 2022, and exits to private rental housing collapsed from 43.6% in 2021 to 7.7% in 2025. 

Focus Ireland head of advocacy Niamh Allen said the figures show that “families and children are bearing the brunt of the housing crisis in the South West”.

“Behind every percentage increase are children growing up in emergency accommodation, often for extended periods. We are spending more than ever on homelessness, both at national and local level. But the balance is wrong.

“Emergency accommodation dominates the budget, while prevention and long-term housing solutions remain underfunded.

“Unless resources are shifted, we will continue to see increases in the numbers of individuals and families entering homelessness.”

Just eight Housing First tenancies were created in the second quarter of 2025, a 42.9% decrease from its highest point of 14 new tenancies in Q4 2021, the report which was launched at the Clayton Hotel Lapps Quay, found.

Additionally, local authority expenditure reached €43.1m in 2024, more than doubling since 2020, with Cork City Council accounting for nearly three-quarters of the spend. South-West local authorities’ annual expenditure on homelessness has seen a 104.4% increase since 2020 and a 570.6% increase since 2009.

Ms Allen also highlighted the collapse in exits to the private rental sector, saying: “The near disappearance of private rental exits is deeply worrying.

“Families who once relied on the private rental market, supported by schemes like Hap, now find that pathway closed. This places enormous pressure on social housing and Housing First tenancies, which cannot keep pace with demand.”

The report shows the urgent need for stronger prevention measures, expanded social housing, and sustained investment in tenancy supports to break the cycle of homelessness for families and children in the South West.

Focus Ireland has warned that, without a rebalancing of expenditure — away from emergency accommodation and toward prevention and long-term housing — the region risks locking families into homelessness for years to come.

It comes as monthly homelessness figures published by the Government last Friday show that homelessness in Cork has risen to another record high, with 712 adults in Cork in emergency accommodation in October.

This marks a 5% increase from the previous month, and the first time the figure has been over 700, after 600 people in emergency accommodation was surpassed for the first time in January of this year.

In Cork and Kerry in October, 109 families comprising 174 adults and 230 children were in emergency accommodation, the government data also shows.