More than 12,000 households reached out to a charity last year over fears they would be made homeless, an increase of 12 per cent on the previous year.
Housing non-profit Threshold said in its annual report for 2022 that it dealt with more than 47,000 phone calls, 9,400 webchat queries, around 6,800 emails, and almost 200 video consultations.
Around 10,000 people in 4,500 homes considered to be at risk were saved from homelessness, it claimed.
Threshold chairman Liam Reid said: “Despite the housing crisis in Ireland receiving so much attention over recent years, we have yet to see major in-roads in terms of its resolution. The number of people contacting our advisors for assistance continues to grow.
“Through our advocacy and campaigning in 2022, we saw essential policy changes introduced to provide additional protection to those at risk of homelessness, including an extension of the notice periods and a temporary ban on evictions in the latter part of the year.”
For the sixth year in a row, tenancy terminations remain the largest issue facing private tenants, the organisation said.
Nearly 40 per cent of its queries related to rental terminations.
Out of 18,684 households helped in 2022, almost 11,000 households contacted Threshold for the first time.
Many clients had multiple issues, the organisation said.
Some 455 households that contacted Threshold entered homeless services, while 259 were forced to stay with family and friends, according to chief executive John-Mark McCafferty.
“This points to the significant decline in the availability of homes to rent and the lack of alternative housing options for people,” he said.
Mr McCafferty said that rents remain “stubbornly high” while the number of landlords selling and exiting the market “remains a major problem”.
