88% of [600] properties available to rent are beyond the reach of people dependent on state housing benefits, a snapshot study by the Simon Communities in Ireland has found. Only two of these properties were available to rent for a single person within Rent Supplement/Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits and only seven properties were available to couples within these limits over the three-day study period. The number of rental properties on the market has dropped significantly since the November 2016 study, however crucially the number available to people in receipt of state housing payments also decreased from 17% to just 12% of all properties, indicating an increasing gap between Rent Supplement/HAP limits and the market rent.

The Simon Communities in Ireland have said that today’s report from the CSO gives much needed insight into the extent of the housing and homelessness crisis and what the solutions might be. One in ten people are living in accommodation of less than one room per person, a rise of 28% since Census 2011. This shows what the Simon Communities are seeing all around the country; people are living in overcrowded accommodation because they do not have access to decent and affordable housing. In the short term, focusing on some of the 183,000 empty homes identified offers significant opportunities to provide permanent homes for those that need them urgently. 

The Simon Communities in Ireland have said that figures released today from the RTB Rent Index Q4 2016 show that the rental market is not slowing down, despite rent stability measures introduced last year. The homeless and housing charity said that the introduction of full rent certainty would make a significant impact on the thousands of people struggling to secure a home.

The Simon Communities in Ireland have said it is unacceptable that 198,358 homes lie empty in Ireland, 27 times the number of people stuck in emergency accommodation (7,167 men, women and children). Almost 13% of total housing stock is vacant in Ireland which is twice the level expected in a functioning housing market. In the short term, focusing on this ‘low hanging fruit’, vacant housing, offers significant and obvious opportunities to provide permanent homes for those that need them urgently. The homeless and housing charity today published its paper, ‘Empty Homes: Unlocking Solutions to the Housing and Homeless Crisis’.