'Spiralling' levels of homelessness, in particular among single adults
Sasko A Family Has In Falling, / Photo: Shows Person While The Monthly Ie Homelessness Rollingnews Homelessness Continuing Latest Single Lazarov Trend Report Been
The number of people who were homeless in January rose by 113 compared with the previous month, reversing the downward trend of the past year and prompting warnings over "spiralling" levels of homelessness among single people.
The latest monthly report issued by the Department of Housing showed 8,313 people in emergency accommodation last January, an increase entirely attributable to adult homelessness.
While family homelessness has been falling, the latest monthly report shows a continuing trend in single person homelessness.
A new report by Focus Ireland, Focus on Homelessness, showed that adult individuals or couples with no accompanying children have not benefitted from the overall fall in homelessness in the past year.
On the day the monthly homeless figures are released, we have published our latest edition of 'Focus On Homelessness' which takes a closer look at the stats.
— Focus Ireland (@FocusIreland) February 26, 2021
In October 2020, the number of 'adult-only households' in homelessness reached its highest-ever level - just below 5,000. pic.twitter.com/DGvpZDlSbu
On the contrary, last October the number of adult-only households in homelessness reached its highest-ever level with just below 5,000 single adults in emergency accommodation.
Focus Ireland Director of Advocacy Mike Allen explains: “The return to an increase in the monthly homeless figures is deeply concerning, particularly in the middle of a pandemic and Level 5 lockdown.
"It is likely that many of those entering homelessness are also coming from the private rental market, indicating that there is to an extent a ‘revolving door’ effect trapping at-risk people between unstable rentals and emergency accommodation. However, particularly during the Covid-19 period, family breakdowns and people having to give up informal housing arrangements, such as sofa-surfers, no doubt account for a proportion of its too.
Dublin Simon CEO Sam McGuinness said urgent measures were needed to stop single adult homelessness spiralling out of control.
"Until there is a significant improvement in the availability of one-bed units for these groups to move into, we will continue to see the cycle of spiralling growth in the numbers of singles and couples stuck in emergency accommodation," he said.
Wayne Stanley, National Spokesperson for the Simon Communities of Ireland, said the situation was "deeply concerning", while DePaul noted that noted that the number of single homeless people has grown by over 6% when compared with homeless figures pre-Covid.
The most recent report shows Dublin has 70% of all those in emergency accommodation, multiples of the number of people who are homeless in Cork, which had the second-highest figure of any county, with 402.