Homeless to get 50% of city social housing until next year

At least half of all social housing available in Dublin city and county is to be allocated to homeless people until the end of next January in an attempt to ease the ongoing crisis.

Minister for the Environment Alan Kelly has issued a new order to Dublin local authorities to designate at least 50 per cent of their vacant housing to homeless and "vulnerable" people, ahead of general applicants on the housing waiting list, for the next six months.

Mr Kelly had issued a similar directive last January as part of a €25 million plan to tackle the issue, following the death of homeless man Jonathan Corrie near Leinster House.

The temporary change in housing allocations in the four Dublin local authorities was one of 20 measures announced in January, and was due to last for six months. The Ministerial direction expired last month and Mr Kelly has now ordered the policy be implemented again given the ongoing and worsening problem of homelessness.

Vulnerable households

There are more than 40,000 households on the waiting lists of the four Dublin local authorities. In the six months to the end of June, they had made 997 homes available, of which 534, about 54 per cent, were allocated to homeless and vulnerable households. The largest allocation was in Dublin city where some 330 homeless families and individuals were housed.

Up to last year, 10 per cent of social housing was allocated to homeless individuals or families in Dublin city and 4-6 per cent in the other three local authority areas.

The Ministerial direction requires 50 per cent of homes be allocated to those on the waiting lists who also fall into one of three categories of need: those who are homeless and have been living in an institution or emergency accommodation; households who need housing because of a family member’s disability; and people in a current housing situation deemed “unsuitable” on exceptional medical or compassionate grounds, such as households where there has been domestic violence or young people leaving State care.