There are nearly 1,200 households facing eviction in the coming months according to new figures from housing charity Threshold.
The charity is warning that many will be unable to find a new home, adding that it is “highly likely” a section of them will end up in emergency homeless accommodation.
It comes just days after the Government confirmed that more than 13,500 people were living in emergency accommodation in November.
The Department of Housing figures included a record high of 4,105 children facing Christmas without a home.
On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, Newstalk reporter Josh Crosbie took a look at what might be coming down the track for Ireland’s homeless services.
He revealed exclusive new figures from Threshold showing that nearly 1,200 households are due to be evicted in the next few months.
Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty told Josh the termination notices will have a direct impact on the number of people in homelessness.
With almost 1,200 households facing termination notices in the coming months, are we looking at a looming evictions crisis in 2024?@JoshCrosbie3 reports. pic.twitter.com/yPpBzjWxzX
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) January 10, 2024
“This is a snapshot, this is dynamic, it's ever-changing, but right now there are just over 300 notices of termination where the lease will end for the tenants in January – just this month,” he said.
“Each of these cases, if you like, is a household – it’s a family or an individual.
“So they are looking at their tenancy ending, being evicted, the landlord finishing that tenancy.
“So it is either an individual or a family with children who have to find alternative accommodation; who may have to move to a different part of their city, their county or a different county in order to try and find alternative housing.
“Many will be unsuccessful in finding alternative housing because of the lack of supply.”
Homeless
He said it is “highly likely” that some of the families facing eviction will end up homeless because it is “highly unlikely that all of them will be successful in securing alternative accommodation”.
Josh also spoke to Trinity Social Policy Professor Eoin Sullivan who told him that people who enter emergency accommodation are “now staying there for a much longer period of time”.
“That is particularly the case in Dublin and that is really what is pushing up the monthly figure,” he said.
'No magic bullet'
Prof Sullivan said the “key” response to the homeless crisis is the provision of good quality, affordable social housing.
“There is no magic bullet,” he said.
“It is simply more and more affordable social housing.
“Households that exit emergency accommodation into social housing provided by local authorities are rarely likely to return to emergency accommodation because it is good quality secure accommodation.”
Of the 1,179 eviction notices reported by Threshold, some 910 are due to landlords selling their properties.
Some 180 are due to family members moving in, while 28 properties are no longer deemed suitable for renting and 27 are Section 34(b) evictions where a tenant is coming to the end of a Part 4 Tenancy.
You can listen back to Josh’s full report here:
