Homelessness in Ireland surpasses 17,000 for first time

The number of people homeless in Ireland has exceeded 17,000 for the first time, with fears even more could lose their homes after the Government’s new rental rules kick in on Sunday.

The latest monthly figures from the Department of Housing show there were 17,112 people in emergency accommodation in January, with 11,793 adults and 5,319 children, which is a new record high.

The figure includes 2,555 families, of which 1,442 are single-parent families.

The previous record was the 16,996 people in emergency accommodation at the end of November.

Focus Ireland chief executive Pat Dennigan said that while he welcomes aspects of the Government’s new rental rules that give greater security to tenants, they do leave families at risk from even greater rent increases.

“The charity has long warned that, without parallel changes to the housing assistance payment (HAP), the clause that allows rents to rise to ‘market levels’ will result in more people becoming homeless or remaining homeless for longer – as rents become unaffordable,” he said.

“The new regulations allow rents to be reset to market levels whenever a landlord has a vacancy and is seeking a new tenant, and this means that anyone seeking a new tenancy from this week will be paying substantially higher than they would have been last month.

“No-one including the Government knows what this increase will be, but informed estimates range from 10% to 25%.” 

However, Mr Dennigan added there is no clear timeline for when HAP will be reviewed, leaving households vulnerable to rent increases.

Social Democrat housing spokesperson Rory Hearne said the Government’s new rental rules will only make it harder for those at risk of homelessness.

“For those who’ve been kicked out of their accommodation, the struggle to find a suitable alternative will become even greater after March 1 - institutional investors, corporate landlords and vulture funds have publicly acknowledged that they will now be able to hike rents to even greater heights,” he said.

Meanwhile, Simon Communities of Ireland executive director Ber Grogan said it is unacceptable this crisis is deepening.

“The Government’s current plan is failing this largest cohort in emergency beds, with potentially long-term impacts on their mental and physical wellbeing,” Ms Grogan said.

“This is a key concern for all the Simon Communities across Ireland. While the new Housing Plan has a welcome focus on children and family homelessness, we simply cannot allow for single adults to be forgotten about and by-passed when investing in solutions.”