State paid €3m in 2002 for homeless accommodation that was vacant

Basic standards are not being met in emergency B&B accommodation, while up 20 per cent of it remains unoccupied despite being paid for still by the State, a draft report from the Homelessness Agency has revealed.

An estimated €3 million was spent on this unoccupied accommodation in 2002.

The report, which is yet to be published and which relies on 2002 data, says the failure to meet basic standards is "largely the fault of the landlords", Dublin City Council.

It says the council must take responsibility for failing to supervise and support landlords in meeting these basic requirements. This is due to a lack of resources being committed to the unit in the council responsible for inspections.

Areas where standards are falling short include overcrowding; inappropriate mixing of sexes in sleeping arrangements; a lack of clear house rules; lack of complaints procedures for residents; and the landlords' failure to inform relevant agencies when rooms are vacant for more than 24 hours.

Ms Mary Higgins, the director of the Homeless Agency, said last night that the data used for the report was now nearly two years old. She said "a lot of these issues are being and have been addressed", and standards in B&B accommodation were generally improving.

The failure of landlords to inform agencies where rooms are vacant is one of the key reasons rooms are being paid for by the State, yet are empty.

The report finds in an analysis of data gathered in March 2002 that the State paid for 1,673 beds while just 1,301 were occupied.

"The cost of unused capacity in bed and breakfast accommodation is, therefore, approximately €3.2 million per year," it says.

The cost of providing emergency private accommodation has "spiralled", says the report, from €6 million in 1999 to €18 million in 2002.

"This is because there is no movement out of emergency accommodation, and households are staying for extended periods, up from three months in 1999 to 18 months today."

Ms Higgins said costs were going down.

The number of landlords involved in providing emergency accommodation to the State is "relatively small", and they run "high-volume" properties.

This type of accommodation, says the report, "has become, in effect, a heavily-subsidised new tenure in the private-rented sector.

This is driving up costs for tenants in other parts of the private rented sector".