Mayo's homeless rate rises 1,700% in five years

THE housing crisis, homelessness and overcrowding are very much issues in Mayo now, a local Oireachtas member has revealed.

Deputy Lisa Chambers said she has noticed a significant increase in the numbers presenting to her constituency office in Castlebar for help with housing over the past two years.

Her observations are supported by figures released to her by the Department of Housing which revealed a 1,700% increase in the number of people in the county presenting as homeless since June 2014.

She elaborated: “This wasn’t a major issue when I first opened almost four years ago but it is now one of most common issues coming across my desk.

“I see all sorts of housing issues - people who can’t get a mortgage due to the central bank restrictions on lending, couples and young families who cannot find a place to rent because rental stock is so low, people who are facing huge rent hikes over short periods of time, pricing them out of the market, and couples and young families being forced to move back in with parents because they cannot afford to rent and are struggling to save for a mortgage deposit.

“Homelessness has also become a major issue over the past five years. In 2014 this wasn’t really a problem but there has been a 1,700% increase in the number of people presenting as homeless to Mayo County Council since then.

“Something that was never a problem in Mayo previously is now very much an issue. When we hear discussions about homelessness we automatically think of Dublin and the other cities but this issue has now spread nationwide and it has hit Mayo.

“It is my belief that the numbers from the Department of Housing are not fully accurate and are actually worse than presented.

“If you present as homelessness to the local authority, it is my understanding that unless you consent, your information will not be calculated in the homelessness figures, so the number is likely higher than what has been made available to me.

“These figures also do not count the numbers of people who are sleeping on friends or family couches or those who have moved back in with their parents. This is the hidden homelessness and also leads to overcrowding in many properties.

“When you present as homeless to the local authority very often what is happening is people or families are given a voucher for a B&B but this usually only covers a few nights and then you are back to square one.

“People are being told to get somewhere to rent privately and the council will put them on the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) to help with rent payment.

“The difficulty here is that there are not enough rental properties available and those available are too expensive and beyond the HAP limits. In 2018, a total of 439 people availed of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). For the first six months of 2019 this figure was already at 168.”

Deputy Chambers said another worrying factor is that new homes are still not being built at the rate needed and the social housing list is getting longer. . .despite Minister Eoghan Murphy saying that money is no object to delivering housing.

She hit out: “The government are only meeting 44% of their own targets in terms of new homes delivered and in Mayo we have hit just 47% of our target on housing delivery this year.

“There are very few affordable homes being built for families to buy and the rental stock is at an all time low, which is driving up rent prices.

“In Mayo right now there are just 108 properties to rent for the entire county and many of those properties are priced out of reach for HAP recipients.

“In 2018 Mayo County Council built just 38 new homes and acquired a further 15 for the entire year.

“In the first six months of 2019 the council built just 15 new homes and acquired 10.

"This shows that the rate of building and completions is not increasing at the rate needed. At this rate we will never clear the backlog and the housing crisis will worsen.”