National: Housing charity reveals significant rise in families at risk of homelessness

2022 saw a significant rise in households across Ireland reaching out to charities for help for fear of becoming homeless, according to a new report from Threshold.

The housing advice charity revealed that more than 12,000 households reached out to them last year, a 12% rise compared to 2021.

Chair of the Threshold Liam Reid said the number "continues to grow" as people are at risk of becoming homeless due to the ongoing housing crises.

Liam Reid said:

"Despite the housing crises in Ireland receiving so much attention over the years, we have yet to see major in-roads in terms of its resolution.

"Through our advocacy and campaigning in 2022, we saw essential policy changes introduced to provide additional protection to those at risk of homelessness, including an extension of the notice periods and a temporary ban on evictions in the latter part of the year.

"These measures are aimed at ensuring we can keep more renters in their homes, advise more people, and increase our advocacy on behalf of people in the private rental sector."

The report revealed the charity had helped more than 18,000 households in total last year with tenancy termination, mainly due to landlords selling property, remaining as the top factor and the biggest problem facing private tenants for the sixth year in a row accounting for nearly 40% of queries to the charity.

Thresholds report revealed it prevented nearly 10,000 "at risk" people from entering into homeless services and that it received more than 47,000 phone calls, more than 9,400 webchat queries , nearly 7,000 emails and 200 video consultations.

CEO of Threshold John Mark McCafferty said:

"Unfortunately, 455 households that we worked with entered homeless services and 259 were forced to stay with family and friends, when their tenancy could not be protected and they could not secure alternative housing.

"The significant decline in the availability of homes to rent and the lack of alternative housing options for people, has made the work of stopping homelessness increasingly difficult."

He added that while the Government was "working to address the issue, demand continues to outstrip supply" and "the ongoing crises is not showing any real signs of abating."

"Rents remain stubbornly high and continue to rise in some areas, while the number of landlords selling and exiting the market remains a major problem."

Threshold has said it plans to increase its capacity by growing its income and hiring more staff.