Homelessness numbers and their impact.

First an update of the summary charts showing the trends for numbers of Adults and numbers of Familys (Adults and Children).
They are updated with the numbers for the latest month:



The Latest Report
The Homelessness Report July 2019 has been released:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/homelessness_report_-_july_2019.pdf

The last two reports had the first headline numbers dropping month-on-month I could remember. This figures in this report have homelessness numbers on the rise again.

I've updated the two charts based on the totals they give.

Homelessness (Adults)


Family Homelessness


I had kind of held out a bit of hope there from the last two reports


Quarterly report
I'm not sure how things are going but they released a quarterly report alongside this report:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/homeless_quarterly_progress_report_-_april_to_june_2019.pdf
It feels a bit unfinished with the blank section on "Homelessnessand Housing Inclusion Supports". I'm guessing the authors were under time pressure and ran out of time.

It has these two points:

Note that exits include both exits from emergency accommodation and persons who have been assessed as homeless but have not entered emergency accommodation e.g. HAP preventions through homeless HAP.

To date in 2019, 51% of families presenting to homeless services in the Dublin region were prevented from having to enter emergency accommodation.

That sounds like they are experiencing larger numbers than are being seen coming through to the reports.


Supply of homes
The solution has always been "to increase the supply of homes". The latest report does not have commentary where previous reports did. They used to include:

The long term solution to the current homeless issue is to increase the supply of homes

or:

The root cause of increased homelessness is the supply shortage across the housing sector, which in turn is a result of the recent economic collapse and the associated damage to the construction sector. Accordingly the long-term solution to the current homeless issue is to increase the supply of homes.

From the quarterly report, it has numbers on where "exits" are going. It doesn't look like all that much of it is permanent accomodation:

It looks like a like is going to the rental sector.

First an update of the summary charts showing the trends for numbers of Adults and numbers of Familys (Adults and Children).
They are updated with the numbers for the latest month:



The Latest Report
The Homelessness Report August 2019 has been released:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/homeless_report_-_august_2019.pdf

Two reports now with a month-on-month rise.
I've updated the two charts based on the totals they give.

Homelessness (Adults)


Family Homelessness



EU - European Social Policy Network (ESPN) Report for Ireland (2019)
The ESPN Thematic Report on National strategies to fight homelessness and housing exclusion - Ireland (2019) has also been released:
https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=21604&langId=en

This jumped out for me:

At present there is statistical obfuscation if not ‘corruption’.

Apart from that, the summary included points that caught my eye:

• Homelessness as a problem is generally well recognised in Ireland
• Housing vulnerability is much less recognised, which among other things means that prevention is not prominent in the Irish approach
• Homelessness has long been a problem in Ireland but the numbers keep growing
• There is a particular cast to this though in that public building is gradually being replaced by acquisition from the private sector and private accommodation is coming to replace (rather than complement) public housing in the response to homelessness and housing exclusion (HHE) and other housing-related problems.
• exits from homelessness and HHE are fewer than the numbers entering
• over-reliance on private-sector housing which has little security for tenants; almost complete dependence on (an under-resourced) voluntary sector for service provision;
• Prevention is another key weakness. To rectify this means enhancing homeless and general housing support services and much stronger rent control measures as well as regulation of the private-rented housing sector with a particular focus on tenant protection and rights. The low stock and insufficient supply of social housing (currently at 8% of total stock) is another issue of concern and arguably the fundamental issue.

They use very rounded numbers but they give a perspective:



Media
Looks like the cost of rent is bringing soldiers into Homelessness danger now:
'I either have to leave the Defence Forces or stay and be homeless with my pregnant wife'
https://www.thejournal.ie/defence-forces-housing-4822862-Sep2019/

One officer said he returned from a UN mission in 2017 and was, at the time, renting a one-bed apartment with his wife in Dublin for €1,600. He said their landlord told them their lease was up and the rent was going up to €2,400.

He said he told his superior: “I will either have to leave the Defence Forces or stay and be homeless with my wife, who is expecting a child. That was the stark reality facing me when I returned from overseas service.”

This is a very concerning article on exploitation of people facing homelessness.
Minister taking reports of rental sector sexual exploitation 'very seriously'
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2019/0924/1077949-housing-exploitation-dail/

She said she had been looking for a property for ten months and had been facing homelessness.

testimonies from women outlined landlord behaviour including commenting on women's appearances, making inappropriate sexual comments, warning tenants not to have boyfriends and sending drunken text messages.

Supply of homes
The solution has always been "to increase the supply of homes". The latest report does not have commentary where previous reports did. They used to include:

The long term solution to the current homeless issue is to increase the supply of homes

or:

The root cause of increased homelessness is the supply shortage across the housing sector, which in turn is a result of the recent economic collapse and the associated damage to the construction sector. Accordingly the long-term solution to the current homeless issue is to increase the supply of homes.

First an update of the summary charts showing the trends for numbers of Adults and numbers of Familys (Adults and Children).
They are updated with the numbers for the latest month:



The Latest Report
The Homelessness Report November 2019 has been released:
https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/homeless_report_-_november_2019.pdf

I've updated the two charts based on the numbers in the report.

Homelessness (Adults)


Family Homelessness


This guy, Rob Cross, has recently updated his tweet about vacant sites in Dublin and the number of Homeless:
https://twitter.com/RobCross247/status/1208899898948640768


Media
This isn't the first medical and childhood development related impact that's been brought up. It worrying to think of the multiple issues building on top of one another.
Rising numbers of state’s most vulnerable children being treated for morbid obesity
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/rising-numbers-of-states-most-vulnerable-children-being-treated-for-morbid-obesity-972633.html

Dr O’Malley, who also leads a research team at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, said it is extremely difficult for parents to feed their children healthy food in cramped hotel rooms with little or no cooking facilities.
She said: “From the homelessness aspect it’s just being able to have access to cook and store food or to sit at a table together. That stability and continuity is vital to support health and development.
“It’s much harder to have wholefoods and vegetables. If you don’t have refrigeration it’s hard to keep dairy.
“So quick, cheap, high-calorie food makes the most sense but may provide less nutrition.
“It’s not a parental decision not to do the right thing. This is a decision operating within the confines of restricted choice and the child’s little body reacts to this stress.”

She said the discussion needs to shift from parental blame and look at society’s role in childhood obesity.

This was an odd one. I can't remember seeing a Judge direct that papers be served on a Minister before.
Plight facing brain damaged homeless man 'should not exist in a civilised state' says judge
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/plight-facing-brain-damaged-homeless-man-should-not-exist-in-a-civilised-state-says-judge-968704.html

A brain-damaged homeless man has been on remand for more than a year in Mountjoy Prison’s high dependency unit despite persistent reports he is of unsound mind and needs residential care, the president of the High Court has heard.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly, having been told a senior HSE official had cancelled a residential care plan due to "resource issues" and it was being proposed to discharge him to access homeless services, said this was a "staggering" and “truly awful situation and one that should not exist in a civilised state".

and

He directed that papers in the case be served on the Minister for Justice, the HSE, the Irish Prison Service and the DPP and returned the matter to next week.

Looks like the Judge got action taken from the details from the follow-up:
HSE to fund care place for brain-damaged homeless man who has been in Mountjoy for a year
https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/hse-to-fund-care-place-for-brain-damaged-homeless-man-who-has-been-in-mountjoy-for-a-year-970102.html

The HSE has “at last” identified an appropriate place and made funding available for it, Mr Justice Peter Kelly remarked today.

It looks like the letting of children down and supply issues were acknowledged:
State is ‘letting children down’ on housing, says Minister
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/state-is-letting-children-down-on-housing-says-minister-1.4113137

The State is “letting children down” by having them live in emergency accommodation, Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy has said.
Mr Murphy was updating an Oireachtas housing committee on the progress of Rebuilding Ireland, the Government’s plan for housing and homelessness, published in 2016 and branded an “abject failure” by housing campaigner Fr Peter McVerry.

'We're letting children down' - Murphy tells committee
https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2019/1212/1098790-housing-eoghan-murphy/

Minister Murphy acknowledged that there were not enough homes

Supply of homes
The solution has always been "to increase the supply of homes". The latest report does not have commentary where previous reports did. They used to include:

The long term solution to the current homeless issue is to increase the supply of homes

or:

The root cause of increased homelessness is the supply shortage across the housing sector, which in turn is a result of the recent economic collapse and the associated damage to the construction sector. Accordingly the long-term solution to the current homeless issue is to increase the supply of homes.

These numbers don't sound good for the immediate future:
34,000 new homes needed every year for next decade - Central Bank
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2019/1210/1098192-central-bank-housing-demand/

A study from the Central Bank has found that 34,000 new dwellings will be needed each year for the next decade to keep up with demand.

But following the crash, house construction collapsed and between 2011 and 2014 an average of just 5,500 houses a year were built.

But the population did not stop growing during those years.

Today's study from the Central Bank found that in order for housing to have kept up with the growth in the population, around 27,000 dwellings per year would have had to be built in the past eight years from 2011 until 2019.

However, the average housing completion rate for this period was just 10,500 dwellings a year.

It was also raised recently that it may be costing taxpayers more to not new council homes than it would to.. build new council homes
New figures show HAP will cost Government more than building new council homes
https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/new-figures-show-hap-cost-17385400

Fianna Fail TD Darragh O’Brien said the average support to tenants will cost the State more than building a new home after 21 years.

Figures given to him by from Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy shows the State will spend over €844million on rent support this year, including €423million on the HAP scheme.

For 2019, the average monthly HAP payment was €829. This was provided to 48,261 households.

The average cost of building a new two-bedroom home nationally is €213,000.