Focus Ireland Calls on Government to Prioritise Families Trapped in Long-term Homelessness for Social Housing as Homelessness Hits Another Record High of 15,378

Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said: “As the clocks move forward tomorrow, bringing longer and brighter evenings, it should be a time when all children look forward to playing outside. Instead, ( 4,653 children are stuck living in emergency accommodation, with no place to call home.  This situation would have been considered utterly unacceptable just ten years ago, and we must remember that is something that can be solved. One key measure would be for new Minister for Housing , James Browne, to implement the Programme for Government commitment that more of the new supply of social housing is used to provide homes for long-term homeless families.  This same approach drove the sharp fall in homelessness during the pandemic 5 years ago and we should learn from this approach.  We believe that it is possible to reduce and then end homelessness if the right actions are taken.”

Earlier this week, a new report from Focus Ireland and Trinity College Dublin revealed that the vast majority (86%) of public spending on homelessness continues to be directed toward emergency accommodation, with little investment in prevention and long-term solutions. 

In this context, Minister Browne’s proposed changes to the ‘Tenant in situ’ scheme, one of the most successful homelessness prevention programmes in place, is likely to contribute to further increases in homelessness in coming months. The proposed changes will make the scheme much less attractive to landlords who wish to sell up but are looking to do the decent thing and avoid their tenants becoming homeless and will take away the safety net from people facing homelessness due to ‘no-fault evictions. Focus Ireland has written to the Minister, asking him to reconsider the proposal.

Mr. Dennigan explains: “This proposal is just the latest episode in a long series in which governments have decided that people facing no-fault evictions are not high on their agenda. The new proposals shift that balance entirely away from concern about homelessness and effectively withdraw the ‘safety net’ put in place by the previous government. Within its limitations, this has been a successful scheme, saving over a thousand households from homelessness, resulting in significant savings for the Department of Housing in providing emergency homeless accommodation.”

Mr Dennigan adds: “Focus Ireland is calling for a fundamental policy shift that prioritises ‘active’ solutions to preventing and ending homelessness. This includes increased investment in prevention, better integration of health and social services, Housing First, housing for vulnerable young people as well as a commitment to ensuring that social housing supply is directed toward those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The evidence is clear: investing in prevention and long-term solutions is both more humane and more cost-effective.”

ENDS

Note for editor: The Tenant in Situ scheme in Ireland is a government initiative designed to prevent tenants from losing their homes when a landlord decides to sell the property. Under this scheme, local authorities (city and county councils) can purchase the property from the landlord and allow the tenant to remain living there as a social housing tenant. The proposed cuts in the scheme are discussed in a recent Focus Ireland blog. 

The recent ‘Focus on Homelessness’ report on expenditure on homelessness is analyzed in in a blog post here.