Address
Homelessness

Introduction

Providing an urgent response to the homeless crisis, Pillar One focuses on taking immediate action to help those on the streets and those in emergency accommodation, including families in hotels.

Additional healthcare and support services will be provided to address addiction and mental health, as well as many of the other underlying issues that can trigger or prolong homelessness. A “whole of Government” approach will be taken to address this challenge, with the co-ordination of inter-agency supports for people who are currently homeless.

To address the unacceptable level of families in emergency accommodation, including hotels, this core pillar of the Action Plan will provide early solutions and an increase in the level of housing made available, including new innovative solutions such as rapid build housing and acquisition of vacant private properties by the Housing Agency.

A key objective is identifying people at risk of losing their homes and to support their efforts to remain in them, with particular emphasis on tenancy sustainment and supporting those in mortgage arrears.

Pillar Actions

2018 saw 5,000+ exits from homelessness nationally. Pillar One’s key actions include early solutions to address the unacceptable level of families in emergency accommodation and the provision of housing:

• We’ll expand the Housing Assistance Payment’s (HAP) homeless tenancy scheme. In 2018,  households in the Dublin Region benefited from the scheme and 4000+ tenancies were supported under the Dublin Homeless HAP Pilot at the end of 2018 with over 6,100 tenancies set up nationally
• At the end of of 2018, under the rapid delivery programme, 423 homes had been delivered. Since the programme’s inception, some 40 projects have been added to the pipeline and will deliver over 1,100 homes out to 2021.
• 1,600 existing vacant units will be sourced by the Housing Agency.
• At the end of Q4 2018, Housing First programme in Dublin has housed 243 people with a history of rough sleeping or long-term homelessness, of which almost 90% successfully retaining their tenancies. A total of 100 such Housing First tenancies will be delivered in Cork, Galway and Limerick over the coming three years.
• By the end of December 2017 we had put in place an additional 237 emergency beds for individuals/couples and rough sleepers A further 60 beds were introduced in the Dublin region as part of the response to Storm Emma. A number of new facilities with 200 further emergency beds were delivered by the end of 2018.
• The HSE’s annual budget for homeless services will be increased by approx. 20% – €6 million. This will provide health, mental health and addiction supports to rough sleepers and people in emergency accommodation, who often have complex needs that must be addressed in tandem with the provision of stable housing. 
• We’ll keep people in their homes where possible, with financial and legal support for people in mortgage arrears . An Aid and Advice Scheme for people in serious mortgage arrears is in place as part of Abhaile, the National Mortgage Arrears Resolution Service. Tenancy Protection free-phone service has been extended nationwide from 2017.

Supporting Homeless Families

Rebuilding Ireland includes the objective that hotels will only be used in limited circumstances as emergency accommodation for families. It is recognised that hotel accommodation is inappropriate for accommodating homeless families for anything other than a short period of time.

To meet this objective, in addition to providing for long-term housing needs, housing authorities have been pursuing the delivery of a range of additional and enhanced family-focused facilities, or family hubs, which offer a greater degree of stability than is possible in hotels and B&B accommodation, while move-on options to long-term independent living are identified and secured.  Continued presentations of families into homelessness services mean that it is still necessary to use hotels in some cases. It is expected that the use of hotels will reduce as more family hubs are developed.

Rapid-Build Housing

Rapid-build housing offers a more stable environment than the use of hotels for families in need of emergency accommodation. At the end of 2018, under the rapid delivery programme, 423 homes had been delivered. Since the programme’s inception some 40 projects have been added to the pipeline and will deliver over 1,100 homes out to 2021

Expanded ‘Housing First’ Programme

Through ‘Housing First’ we will provide permanent, stable and supported housing to our long-term homeless individuals and thus reduce the reliance on emergency accommodation over time. As of Q4 2018, Housing First in Dublin has housed 243 people with a history of rough sleeping or long-term homelessness, with almost 90% successfully retaining their tenancies. A total of 100 such Housing First tenancies will be delivered in Cork, Galway and Limerick over the coming three years.

Sourcing Vacant Housing Units

The Housing Agency will acquire 1,600 vacant properties, a number of which will be used to provide permanent homes for homeless families. The Housing Agency will be directly funded with €70 million in capital Exchequer funding to find and acquire suitable portfolios of vacant properties for social housing, including homeless families, directly from financial institutions and investors. These 1,600 units will be delivered by 2020.

Since the launch of Rebuilding Ireland in July 2016 and as of 31 December 2018, the Agency has signed contracts for 630 units and 583 of these purchases have closed.  The process of selling properties on to Approved Housing Bodies is well underway.  As of 31 December 2018, the Agency has purchase option agreements for 230 properties with Approved Housing Bodies. All of these properties are now under Caretaker Leases. To date, the onward sale of 290 units to AHBs have been completed in full and the Agency has received €60.7m from AHBs for these units.

The increased supply of social housing targeted in Rebuilding Ireland’s plan, 50,000 homes by the end of 2021, will also ensure that more homes are provided for those who are homeless and for those at risk of homelessness.

Housing Assistance Payment for Homeless Households (HAP)

The Homeless Pilot of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme has been operational since February 2015 and we have expanded it to increase the transition of households from emergency accommodation into private rented tenancies. In 2018, 4000+ tenancies were supported under the Dublin Homeless HAP Pilot.