Homeless figures in North East rose again in July

Homeless figures in the North East rose again in July, according to figures released today by Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

99 adults accessed local authority managed emergency accommodation in the North East, which comprises Louth, Monaghan and Cavan, n during the week of 25-31 July 2022. This is up from 96 reported in June.

According to the Homelessness Report for July 2022, 13 families with 33 child dependants also accessed local authority managed emergency accommodation in June, six of which were single parent families.

Of the 99 homeless adults recorded, 11 were aged 18-24; 57 aged 25-44; 25 aged 25-64; and six were 65 and over. 68 were male and 31 female.

Nationally, 7,431 adults and 3,137 children were reported last month as accessing local authority managed emergency accommodation, giving a total of 10,568 homeless people in July. Commenting on the latest national figures, Caoimhe O'Connell, Spokesperson for Dublin Simon Community said: 

“We are extremely distressed by the ongoing rise in the number of people presenting in emergency accommodation. Last month, we broke a record we never wanted to reach in Dublin and now, devastatingly, the same has happened at a national level. In our fifty years of providing homeless services, the situation has never been this bleak or urgent.  

"Behind these numbers are people whose physical and mental health is deteriorating as they remain stuck in emergency accommodation with little or no hope for when they might feel the safety and security of “home” again. On the frontline, our staff are struggling to keep our clients motivated and prevent relapses into addiction as social housing remains far from reach and the pool of HAP properties continues to shrink on a daily basis.  

"There was a shocking 78% decrease in the amount of singles and couples exiting homelessness via HAP properties in Dublin in the first 6 months of 2022, compared to the same period last year. Our emergency services are already seeing a significant increase in older people and working people presenting as homeless for the first time and our fear is that this trend will continue as landlords continue to leave the market at an alarming rate. We are calling on all government departments and agencies to work with us and other NGOs on a crisis plan as a matter of urgency.”