Funding delays holding up social housing projects, Focus Ireland says

Focus Ireland’s pre-budget submission said up-front funding delays are holding local authorities back from beginning social housing building projects.

The homelessness prevention charity said the Government’s claims that funding was not an issue in tackling the housing crisis did not tally with “delays and limitations” local councils face in securing funding.

The submission to the Government calls for next week’s budget to set aside funding to fast-track the delivery of social housing projects to tackle the homelessness crisis.

The submission states the majority of the Rebuilding Ireland housing plan’s €5.3 billion funding “only becomes available towards the end of the six-year strategy”.

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Focus Ireland advocacy director Mike Allen said the "current funding process is too slow and complex due to the Government policy of ensuring all such investment is 'off the Government books'".

“For years now we have been stuck in the deeply frustrating maze in which the Government keeps insisting that money is no problem yet the local authorities tell us the systems are too complex for them to access the money to deliver homes which are urgently needed,” Mr Allen said.

The charity said if €1.3 billion was provided to local authorities to borrow then up to 13,500 social housing units could be delivered.

Self-accommodation

It also said the current system where a family in emergency accommodation must book their own hotel or hostel room each week or day is not fit for purpose. The process of “self-accommodation” where a family is responsible for finding an emergency accommodation room which is then paid for by local authorities has placed a huge stress on families, Focus Ireland said.

The charity is also calling for more housing supports for vulnerable adults who leave the State care system when they turn 18.

Focus Ireland services manager Neil Forsyth estimated that as many as 200 children who have exited the care system from foster or State-run residential homes in the last five years may now be homeless.

“No young person should leave the care system until they have somewhere stable and secure to live. If you end up on the streets after a life in care, you can just imagine how tormented you’d be,” Mr Forsyth said.

The Rebuilding Ireland plan has identified that young people leaving State care are at an increasing risk of entering homelessness. A Department of Housing spokeswoman said the department had “committed funding to provide ring-fenced accommodation units for young people leaving State care”.

Tusla, the State child-protection agency, is currently meeting various approved housing bodies to find groups and providers to run the State-backed accommodation, according to the department spokeswoman.