Radical housing reset needed with new record homelessness levels
Radical housing reset needed with new record homelessness levels - The Labour Party
- 15,418 homeless with 4,675 children in emergency accommodation.
- Changes to Tenant-in-situ scheme will drive further increases.
- Social housing target missed by 20%.
Labour’s Housing Spokesperson Conor Sheehan TD has today expressed deep alarm as homelessness figures reach a new high of 15,418 people nationwide, including nearly 5,000 children. An increase of 554 people in three months, 1,552 in a year.
This follows fresh revelations this week that the Government has fallen 20% short of its own social housing target, despite repeated fanfare and inflated claims of progress. Recent changes to the Tenant-in-Situ scheme will drive further increases to future levels of homelessness.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“Inexorable increases in the levels of homelessness continue with a rise of 40 on February figures, and an extra 22 children living in emergency accommodation. Nearly five thousand children growing up without a home across 2,212 families. Each week brings a new low in this Government’s handling of housing with another target missed —delivering 20% fewer social homes than promised.
“There is no way to sugar-coat this. It’s a national scandal, and it is a direct result of Government failure to treat housing as the emergency it clearly is. Despite the rhetoric, there is no urgency, no strategic leadership, and no willingness to admit the scale of the crisis. The recent changes made to the tenant-in-situ scheme, and the lack of funding will drive further families into emergency accommodation.
“In Labour, we want to work constructively. That’s why, last month, I wrote to the Minister for Housing outlining four specific, evidence-based measures that could make an immediate difference. My letter wasn’t even acknowledged—let alone answered.
“I urged the Minister to pass Labour’s Housing (Homeless Families) Bill 2017, which would finally ensure that the best interests of the child are considered in homelessness decisions. This legislation has already passed second stage unopposed and gone through scrutiny. It’s ready to go – what is the delay?
“I called for serious investment in homelessness prevention. The Government has signed the Lisbon Declaration, but has failed to fund the policies that would realise it. The Focus on Homelessness report this week exposes the hundreds of millions being handed to private emergency accommodation providers – while long-term solutions are ignored.
“I highlighted the need to increase support for the Tenant in Situ scheme. Too many single people are being pushed into homelessness because this scheme doesn’t go far enough. We also need to reassess the types of homes being built – there are nowhere near enough single-unit social homes.
“Finally, I called for a review of how social housing is allocated. While delivery is finally approaching levels last seen under Labour in the 1970s, allocation policies must evolve to support those most in need, especially long-term homeless families and individuals. This system hasn’t kept pace with the scale or shape of the crisis.
“We need a radical reset in how this Government approaches housing. We need to start treating this crisis like the emergency it is, with the urgency and bold vision it demands. Labour has put real solutions on the table – we need action.”