Budget 2020 has seen the housing crisis eclipsed by a possible Brexit crisis, and that deepens the complexity of solving the biggest and most widespread issue facing modern Ireland. That’s according to the Simon Communities of Ireland. While welcoming the Government’s commitments to Rebuilding Ireland, it warns that much more substantive and timely interventions are needed to solve Ireland’s housing crisis.

The Simon Communities in Ireland have said that it is dismaying to see the numbers of people who remain trapped in emergency accommodation climb again, with an increase of 63 people accessing emergency accommodation in August. The charity said that the new figures should be a ‘call to action’ for Government ahead of the announcement of Budget 2020 in October.

The Simon Communities in Ireland have expressed disappointment that the number of people accessing emergency accommodation rose in July, following two consecutive months of decline.

The Simon Communities in Ireland have said that figures released today from the Daft.ie 2019 Q2 Rental Report highlights a critical lack of affordable accommodation in the private rental sector.

On the week of the third anniversary of Rebuilding Ireland’s launch, the Simon Communities in Ireland have called on Government to commit to a major roll-out of affordable cost rental[i] accommodation and increase allocation of social housing to those in long-term homelessness[ii] to tackle the homelessness and housing crisis.