Homelessness in Meath has tripled in last two years

Local increase in numbers is reflective of the national homeless issue which saw cases pass the 9,000 mark and can be apportioned to a backlog of Notice to Quit becoming effective

There were 252 people recorded as homeless in Meath during the last week of November according to statistics revealed by the Department of Housing and Meath County Council.

That is more than three times the amount of people - 71 - who were recorded as homeless and living in emergency accommodation in 2019.

The latest figures are the highest figure ever recorded for the county as the national figure surpassed 9,000 cases.

That number represents men, women and children who are homeless and living in emergency accommodation.

Navan Cllr Alan Lawes who has been a vocal advocate for homeless people in Meath said he believed the figures were reflecting the effects of landlords leaving the market and selling up houses, further depleting the rental market.

He also voiced hope that December and January's figures could see a decline in those numbers as a result of the HSE’s Winter Initiative which helped placed people in accommodation

A spokesperson for Meath County Council confirmed that as of 31st October, it was accommodating 184 adults and 68 children in emergency accommodation, which reflects an increase of 53 adults and 18 children for the same period in 2019.

“Regretfully, the increase in homeless figures for Meath is reflective of the National Homeless issue and can be apportioned to a backlog of Notice to Quit becoming effective following the moratorium due to Covid-19 restrictions, the availability of rental properties on the market and addiction/mental health issues.

“Meath County Council’s Settlement Team are actively supporting many clients who are facing homelessness through intervention, supports around addiction and mental health, financial assistance through our Placefinder Service and assistance with a Housing Application with a view to securing a Social Housing Unit. We continue to work closely with our colleagues in the HSE, Peter McVerry Trust, Dublin Simon and Approved Housing Bodies to agree and secure supports for clients, as required.

“Housing for All is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. Under Housing for All, the Government will deliver 47,600 new build social homes in the period 2022-2026. Individual targets for the delivery of social housing from 2022 -2026 have been provided to each local authority i.e. 1575 units to be delivered by Meath County Council.

“Housing for All also recognises that many households experiencing homelessness have additional support needs and includes specific measures to address these needs. These include measures to continue the expansion of the Housing First model and a focus on the construction and acquisition of one-bed homes and, importantly, ensuring provision of the necessary health and mental health supports required to assist homeless people with complex needs.”

Peter McVerry Trust, the national housing and homeless charity has said it is disappointed that the number of people in homelessness climbed above 9,000 in November 2021. The figures show the number of people recorded as homeless rose to 9,099 in the last week of November.

Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust said “We are disappointed that the number of people in need of emergency accommodation continued to rise and we now see the figures above 9,000. Peter McVerry Trust continues to work with our colleagues in the DRHE and local authorities to make sure we offer additional emergency accommodation to cope with the numbers in need.”

“Peter McVerry Trust is also working to ensure that we ramp up delivery of new social housing opportunities to provide pathways out of homelessness for young people.”

“We urgently need to secure more one-bedroom homes for people impacted by homelessness and Peter McVerry Trust would appeal to the owners of vacant or derelict properties to contact us to see how we can re-use those properties for social housing.”

“We would also encourage the developers who are progressing small scale apartment schemes which contain one and two-bedroom apartments to make contact with us to see if we can acquire some of those units for social housing to help people exit homelessness.”

In Navan the accommodation crisis was being compounded by the lack of properties available to rent. Daft.ie had just four properties to rent when checked last Monday. One four-bed house was being offered for a €2,200 monthly rent.