Homelessness is worst in West of Ireland

Homelessness in the West of Ireland is increasing at a rate faster than anywhere else in the country – and without a significant increase in the number of social housing units, things are going to get far worse in 2019.

That’s according to CEO of Galway Simon, Karen Golden, who warned that the problem could get a lot worse before it gets better.

“The rate of increase in the West of Ireland, and the majority of that is in Galway City, is faster than any other region; there were 36 families in emergency accommodation in June 2014 – there were 499 in June 2018.

“We have a significant,  increasing and sustained demand for our services. I don’t think anybody saw it getting that back, that quickly,” said Ms Golden.

The number of social houses built in Galway City this year came nowhere near making a dent in these soaring figures and this is a situation unlikely to improve in 2019.

“In quarter three of 2018, 4,700 houses were completed nationally; only 18 of those were in Galway.

“That is a negligible contribution to the issue and unfortunately, I don’t see it improving. There is virtually no social housing coming on stream, and I don’t see it coming next year either,” said Ms Golden.

Social housing is vital for the people availing of Galway Simon’s services, she says, and without it, demand will continue to far outstrip supply.

The charity has now reached a point where housing that was once used for people in emergency situations for a couple of days has to be used for people on a long-term basis.

“At its simplest, we would provide a housing service where we have a number of people living in Galway Simon houses.

“That would normally be used on a transitional basis where people would stay there in emergency circumstances but that is becoming increasingly more difficult because alternatives are not available,” explained Ms Golden.

In fact, rising rents mean that when someone is served with a notice to quit from their landlord, they are at serious risk of not being able to find alternative accommodation due to ever-rising rents.

“Rents in Galway City have gone up by 41 per cent over the past three years.

“It is said that the services are ‘silting up’ which is a really awful phrase that has come into use, but it does illustrate the situation.

“People are coming into emergency accommodation for a couple of nights, a couple of weeks at most, but they are ending up there for months on end,” said Ms Golden.

An overreliance on the private sector to provide social housing is exacerbating the problem and Ms Golden said the Government’s Housing Assistance Programme (HAP) was simply not working.

“We need to see more accommodation coming on stream and more quickly. There is very little in place in the short term for Galway – we need more of a focus on that.

“We would like to see the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) having greater powers to enforce the rent pressure zone in Galway City.

“We have a four per cent cap on rent increases yet they have gone up by 16 per cent in the past year – four times that rate,” said Ms Golden.