The removal of rent caps and cuts to the tenant-in-situ scheme will contribute to rising levels of homelessness, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, made his comments as a new record high for homelessness was confirmed this afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s figures show there were 15,418\u00a0people living in homeless emergency accommodation at the end of March. Shockingly, 4,675\u00a0of them are children. These record numbers are a\u00a0shameful milestone for\u00a0a government that never prioritised homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past six months, the number of children in emergency accommodation has been steadily increasing. Overall, there are 256\u00a0more children in emergency accommodation than there were six months ago. These trends will continue unless there is a radical shift in government policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that this week the Minister was patting himself on the back over failed social housing delivery targets while we have record homelessness shows the disconnect between this government and the reality of the housing emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing policy pursued by this government is creating homelessness. The tenant-in-situ scheme is a genuinely preventative measure that would save these families and children from the trauma of entering into homelessness, and yet the acquisitions made by the government in 2024 were a mere 994 homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, there has been uncertainty over the future and funding of the scheme, as thousands of renters find themselves in limbo with the threat of eviction hanging over them.<\/p>\n
\u201cRents are at record levels and continue to skyrocket at rates of 6.4 per cent for new tenancies and 4.7 per cent for existing tenancies. And still, inexplicably, the government is considering removing rent caps.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe figures today are the direct result of policy choices made by the government. This is what happens when you do not protect vulnerable renters, or prevent them from becoming homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cRising levels of homelessness will continue to outpace any social and affordable housing delivery from the State unless there is a radical shift in government policy, which must have a far greater focus on the tenant-in-situ scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 25, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The removal of rent caps and cuts to the tenant-in-situ scheme will contribute to rising levels of homelessness, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne, who is the party\u2019s housing spokesperson, made his comments as a new record high for homelessness was confirmed this afternoon. \u201cToday\u2019s figures show there were 15,418\u00a0people living in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[663,10,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homelessness","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n