Children's well-being may be adversely affected if they live in damp overcrowded houses within poor neighbourhoods, according to two reports published today.
The two reports published today were funded by the Irish Youth Foundation and published by the Children's Research Centre at Trinity College: Housing problems and Irish children. The impact of housing on children's well-beingand How Housing Conditions Affect Children's Lives. A Review of existing research.
Both reports were written by housing and social policy consultant Mr Simon Brooke.
The reports say that children living in local authority housing and children of lone parents are more likely to experience housing conditions that would adversely affect them than children living in private rented housing or owner-occupied housing.
They also found that over one-fifth of lone-parent families were living in unsatisfactory housing as assessed by local authorities, compared with one in fifty two-parent families.
According to existing research, overcrowding has been linked to physiological stress and behavioural problems at school and dampness has been associated with asthma.
Mr Brooke recommended the phasing out the current Remedial Works Scheme and replacing it with a sinking fund for cyclical maintenance for dwellings. Under this new scheme, annual payments for each dwelling would be made into a fund to finance future spending on repairs.
Another recommendations include higher quality benchmarks for privately rented houses and further increases in expenditure on social rented housing.
"Children deserve to have a decent start in life by living in housing that is good for them rather than housing that may perpetuate their disadvantage. With our current prosperity this is achievable. Now is the time to do it," Mr Brooke said.
