CHARITY FOCUS IRELAND has warned the government that action needs to be taken to address the shortage of social housing.

Focus Ireland said that €400 million investment is needed in social housing and is vital to ensure the homeless crisis does not escalate more than it already has.

Tax breaks

They said the recent kite-flying that tax breaks could be introduced in this year’s budget to ‘kick start’ the construction sector was “ill conceived when what is needed is investment to build affordable and social homes”.

The homeless charity said that a €400 million investment would help deliver 3,000 homes and boost the economy by creating up to 3,200 much needed jobs in the construction and supply industries.

Focus Ireland made the call as the leading charity announced it has already supported nearly 270 households this year to either settle in a new home or has prevented them from losing their home in the first place.

They said that the number of families becoming homeless every month in Dublin has recently doubled from 8 to 16 families every month.

Accomodation

Mike Allen, Director of Advocacy at Focus Ireland said:

Families trying to move out of homelessness are finding that it increasingly hard to find a home to rent. Rents are rising and people need to have cash in hand to afford deposits and a months rent in advance. Families that are homeless ended up trapped for long periods in emergency accommodation.

There is simply a shortage of affordable housing to rent or buy in Dublin and we need to start addressing that now by starting to build the homes people need. But we must ensure we do not repeat the policies of incentivised greed which have served us so poorly in the past.

He added that the recent leaks suggesting the introduction of tax incentives to developers “is the approach that created the boom and the crash and it will inevitably serve only to recreate the housing bubbles of the past,” he said, adding that the most recent government figures showed almost 100,000 households on housing waiting lists.

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