The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government Mr. Simon Coveney,T.D., today (20 February, 2017) said “The homeless figures published today reflect the work that is being done to ensure that sufficient beds are in place for rough sleepers and the drive to ensure that more families are exiting homelessness than are entering it. Last year in excess of 2,700 families exited homelessness and the level of ambition is greater again this year. Homeless HAP, along with other social housing supports, is making an important contribution to increasing exits from homelessness. Last year 810 homeless households were supported into secure tenancies with the Homeless HAP. Already this year 317 homeless households have been supported in the same way. We are frontloading our efforts to ensure that the existing group of families accommodated in hotels move out as quickly as possible so that by mid-2017 hotels will only be used as emergency accommodation in exceptional circumstances,” said Minister Coveney
January 2017 December Difference
National
Homeless Adults 4,760 4,643 117
Homeless Families 1,172 1,205 -33
Dependents 2,407 2,505 -98
Dublin only
Homeless Adults 3,247 3,162 85
Homeless Families 1,007 1,028 -21
Families in hotels 730 738 -8
Dependents 2,046 2,096 -50
Rest of Country only
Homeless Adults 1,513 1,481 32
Homeless Families 165 177 -12
Dependents 361 409 -48
A HAP Placefinder service, operated by the DRHE in Dublin is helping people to secure tenancies under the Homeless HAP pilot scheme. From the first week of March, a Homeless Placefinder service will be rolled out by Cork City Council to seek out potential properties under the mainstream HAP scheme. This will be given the capacity to pay over a deposit and one months rent in advance. It will also be encouraged to utilise the full 20% discretion available to secure suitable tenancies.
“Since we launched Rebuilding Ireland last year we’ve made continued efforts to deliver the objectives in the plan in relation to dealing with the problem of homelessness. This Government will continue to do everything in its’ power to tackle homelessness. I am committed to the ending of the use of commercial hotels for emergency accommodation for families, except in exceptional circumstances and the figures for January offer some encouragement in this regard.
“Multiple initiatives to bring vacant properties into use are underway with both the Housing Agency and local authorities. The number of Homeless HAP tenancies to be delivered in Dublin this year is 1,200. To date we have achieved 317 such tenancies. While we are finding more homes for people who are homeless, we remain focused on increasing supply which is at the centre of our housing difficulties. This year will continue to be challenging but I will work with my colleagues in Government and the various Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOS) to address the significant challenge that homelessness brings," ended Minister Coveney
Note for Editors.
Homeless Placefinder Service.
Homeless Placefinder Service will be established by Cork City Council. The service will entail a dedicated resource that will operate together with the established HAP delivery team in the local authority, and will be charged with -
o seeking out potential properties suitable for households currently identified as homeless by Cork City Council by establishing relationships with local property agents and landlords and liaising with specific households to establish their specific needs ;
o supporting homeless households to secure the tenancy arrangements which may include assisting with tenancy agreements and arrangements in that context.
Budget
Significant additional resources for tackling homelessness are being delivered under Budget 2017 with an increase of almost 40% in the Exchequer allocation, from €70 million in 2016 to €98 million in 2017. In addition the overall housing budget this year is €1.3billion.
Rebuilding Ireland
In particular Rebuilding Ireland provides for early solutions to address the unacceptable level of families in emergency accommodation:
1,500 rapid-build units
1,600 vacant units sourced by the Housing Agency (200 approx. already completed)
Expanded HAP Homeless Tenancies – 550 in 2016 and 1,200 in 2017.
The ‘Rapid Delivery’ programme has been extended under Rebuilding Ireland to deliver 1,500 units by the end of 2018. The Department continues to work closely with the four Dublin local authorities in relation to the rapid delivery programme. With 350 “rapid build” homes currently at various stages of delivery, including construction, we expect to see these units occupied in the coming months and a further 650 homes in progress this year, with another 500 units to be delivered in 2018.
The Housing Agency will acquire 1,600 vacant housing units over the period to 2020. The Housing Agency will be directly funded with €70 million in capital Exchequer funding to find and acquire suitable portfolios of vacant properties for social housing, including homeless families, directly from financial institutions and investors.
The Homeless Pilot of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme has been operational since February 2015 across the four housing authorities in the Dublin Region, and is being implemented through the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). The pilot is designed to transition qualified households from emergency accommodation into private rented tenancies. In 2016 around 810 HAP tenancies have been created for homeless households in the Dublin Region;
Through housing-led initiatives permanent, stable and supported housing will be provided to long-term homeless individuals, thus reducing the reliance on emergency accommodation over time. The target for secure tenancies to be delivered under the Dublin Region ‘housing-first’ initiative has been tripled under the Action Plan from 100 to 300. A Focus Ireland – McVerry Trust consortium is tasked with delivering this programme.
Housing authorities have assisted more than 2,000 sustainable exits from homelessness into independent tenancies in the first nine months of 2016. The final figure is estimated to be 2,700.
Emergency Beds
Additional Emergency Accommodation for Rough Sleepers
The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) confirmed a minimum of 142 persons sleeping rough across the Dublin Region on the night of 22nd November.
Since then, the DRHE has delivered additional beds in supported temporary accommodation for homeless individuals. Approximately 200 additional beds are in the following locations:
Ø Ellis Quay;
Ø Little Britain Street;
Ø Carman’s Hall; and
Ø Wolfe Tone Quay.
The capital costs associated with these three additional facilities is €6.1m.
Given the number of rough sleepers recorded during the official count, these additional beds ensure that there is sufficient bed-space for those recorded as sleeping rough, with some additional capacity. Furthermore, the DRHE will bring forward two additional facilities early this year to meet potential future increased demand, and these facilities will cater for both individuals and couples.
There are currently two additional facilities in planning for the Dublin region