Evictions and rising rents lead to hike in homeless

The homeless crisis continues to deepen in Galway amid a continuing shortage of homes, rising rents and skyrocketing rates of eviction.

Galway Simon CEO, Karen Golden, said that since the Covid-19 moratorium on evictions was lifted last year, it was getting ‘more and more difficult’ to support people out of homelessness.

The ban on evictions, which was introduced when people were restricted from travelling beyond 5km of their homes, had brought a welcome reprieve and resulted in a steady fall in homelessness figures, said Ms Golden.

“It was a very tangible measure and it had a very positive impact,” continued Ms Golden.

“We supported 824 households last year, an increase of 26% on the previous year and a very significant proportion of that work was in the area of prevention.”

Prevention was key, she said, and Galway Simon worked tirelessly in seeking to keep households out of emergency accommodation, either through coming to an arrangement with their existing landlord or through sorting alternative accommodation.

“Through the years, we gave assisted a large number of households to either sustain the tenancy they had, or to find alternative accommodation, before they had to enter emergency accommodation [hotels, hostels and B&Bs].

“With the right supports, and it is challenging, we can and do prevent people becoming homeless and if you can avoid that trauma – particularly for children – it’s the best outcome because we know there can be ongoing complications in later years if not,” said Ms Golden.

Rent prices in Galway City and County were rising at an alarming rate, with city rates up by 53% over the last five years, while the county had experienced a 69% increase.

“There is a significant shortage of property and the prices are going up substantially. There are very few people or households whose income has increased in those percentages over that time.

“Because of the sparce rental sector, people are seeing increases in rent and because of that, we are also seeing an increase in food poverty and fuel poverty,” said Ms Golden.

“We are supporting people who are under significant stress.”

The shortage of housing was in all sectors and more private, affordable and social housing was required – particularly as small private landlords were leaving the market.

“There is a trend locally and nationally where there are small landlords exiting the market and that is not helping the situation.

“But there is still home that it is going to improve – we have accepted that it is going to take longer than we hoped because the shortage of housing is so severe. Until supply picks up, that shortage is going to continue,” said Ms Golden.

Nationally, the Simon Community has found in its ‘Locked Out’ report that low-income households were being blocked from entering the rental market because of the shortage of properties available within the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limit.

Galway City suburbs was one of five areas nationally where in December 2021, there were no properties in any category – couple, couple/one parent and one child and couple/one parent and two children – within standard or discretionary Rent Supplement or HAP limits.

Wayne Stanley, Head of Policy for the Simon Communities, said despite an overall increase in housing stock nationally, the problem of unaffordable rents was escalating.

“The distance between HAP rates and market cost means that topping up is rife and becoming more unsustainable. We see it across our food services where people come in for food and support the last week of the month as they don’t have anything left.

“We must respond with solutions that will prevent individuals and families from being evicted into homelessness,” said Mr Stanley.