How long should an emergency be?
Households depending on emergency accommodation in recent years are likely to be stuck there for the long term.
That was Sophie Johnston’s finding after she compiled Cork Simon’s Home Truths paper, published yesterday, Wednesday.
Cork Simon Community’s fourth Home Truths paper ‘How Long is an Emergency?’ explores journeys through emergency accommodation in the southwest and the private rented market’s influence on homelessness.
Based on analysis of Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage Homeless Performance Reports which are published quarterly, her paper identifies growing rates of long-term homelessness, slim chances of exiting homelessness to private rented tenancies and how the private rented market is one of the key drivers of homelessness in the southwest.
She said: “In the two and half years to mid-2024, over half of all households in emergency accommodation in the southwest have been long-term homeless.
“Just one in ten have managed to leave emergency accommodation to a tenancy. It’s another layer of complexity in the ongoing homelessness crisis.”
She continued: “Long-term homelessness can be really detrimental to people’s health and wellbeing. The antidote is a home but the chances of securing one have never been so limited.”
Ongoing issues with dwindling supply and rising costs in the private rented sector are proving to be a key route into homelessness, as well as a significant roadblock to exits from emergency accommodation.
In the 15 months to June 2024, one in four households new to emergency accommodation in the southwest had received a ‘no fault’ notice of termination for their private rented tenancy.
The sale of the rented home was the reason for terminating the tenancy in the majority of cases.
The supply and cost issues in the private rented sector appear to be impacting exits from emergency accommodation as well.
The number of households leaving homelessness to a private rented tenancy fell significantly from an average of 59 per quarter between 2018 and 2020, to just 18 per quarter between 2021 and mid-2024 - a drop of almost 70%.
Only 10 households exited to a private rented tenancy in quarter 2 2024, the most recently published quarterly homeless performance report said.
Describing these trends as untenable, Ms Johnston explained: “The door is not only closing on the private rented market as a route out of homelessness but it’s emerging as a gateway into homelessness as well.”
She added: “Here in the southwest an average of just five households per month exited emergency accommodation to a private rented tenancy in the 15 months to June 2024, but twice as many, 10 households, were pushed into homelessness following a ‘no fault’ notice of termination. One out, two in is not a sustainable ratio.”
Sophie Johnston said it’s early days yet, but the signs are promising in regards to the Tenant-inSitu scheme.
This scheme offers protection to some renters who face tenancy termination because their home is to be sold.
The housing agency can purchase the property on behalf of a local authority and keep the existing tenancy in place.
She said: “If not for this scheme, the number of people presenting to emergency accommodation would be even higher.
“It is acting somewhat as a counterbalance to private rented evictions because the property is to be sold. But greater security of tenure in private rented housing is still needed to close-off that gateway into homelessness,” Ms Johnson concluded.