Homeless service providers for people in Clare say the Government’s latest initiative aimed alleviating the housing crisis is not the answer to the problem facing the country.
The rent-a-room scheme looks set to be extended to people living in council housing, in an effort to bring between 14 and 28 thousand new homes on stream.
The scheme was first introduced in the mid 2000’s and allows homeowners to earn up to 14 thousand euro a year, tax free, for renting out a spare bedroom to private tenants.
Up to now those living in council housing were not allowed to participate in the scheme, but with the continued shortage of private rental accommodation, that now looks set to change.
Local authorities currently own around 140 thousand housing units across the country, up to 28 thousand of which are ‘under occupied’ in many cases by older people living alone.
The rent-a-room scheme will now be extended to council tenants, in a move which could see between 14 and 28 thousand new homes become available across the country.
Head of Funding with Midwest Simon, Jackie Leonard says any measure that helps is welcome, but this won’t solve the homeless crisis.
The Department of Housing’s quarterly report shows there were 412 adults in emergency accommodation in the Midwest in March, 72 of those in Clare.
Across the first three months of the year, the numbers exiting accommodation jumped significantly in this region, however, with 81 exits between January and March, up from 45 in the same period the previous year.
Novas’ Head Of Policy and Communication says the number of exits are welcome, but their value won’t be seen due to the significant numbers falling into homelessness.
Una Burns says while Government’s plans to tackle the housing crisis are welcome, they’re not at the scale needed to tackle the highest levels of homelessness ever witnessed here.
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