HOUSING EXCLUSION AND HOMELESSNESS IN IRELAND

Transcription

1 HOUSING EXCLUSION AND HOMELESSNESS IN IRELAND JOE FINNERTY DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED SOCIAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK IRELAND

2 CONTENT OF PRESENTATION Examines likely impacts of current developments in the Irish republic in housing markets social spending (housing) jobs market on avoiding / exiting from homelessness

3 STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION 1. CURRENT ECONOMIC AND BUDGETARY CRISIS 2. EXISTING (HOUSING) PATHWAYS TO AVOID OR EXIT HOMELESSNESS 3. LIKELY IMPACTS ON AVOIDING / EXITING HOMELESSNESS 4. SPECULATIVE CONCLUSIONS

4 1. ASPECTS OF THE ECONOMIC AND BUDGETARY CRISIS HOUSING MARKETS JOBS MARKETS SOCIAL EXPENDITURE CUTS SOCIAL HOUSING POLICY

5 IRISH HOUSING OUTPUT Year Units Completed , , , , , , * 20,000 (estd.) Sources: Department of Finance, Housing Statistics Bulletin (various years)

6 Impacts of housing bust Directly on construction-related employment Directly on government finances (e.g. income taxes and stamp duties) Continuing sharp fall in house prices The above factors overdetermine the effects of the global financial crisis, serving to exacerbate the Irish economic situation

7 UNEMPLOYMENT TRENDS Unemployment officially forecasted to rise % %

8 GOVERNMENT FINANCES The emergency April 09 budget s 3.3 billion of cuts comprises: 45% on expenditure cuts ( 1.5 billion) 55% on taxation increases ( 1.8 billion).

9 2. AVOIDING / EXITING HOMELESSNESS

10 HOMELESSNESS IN DUBLIN 2,144 homeless households in 2008 Sleeping rough Homeless accommodation Long-term supported housing = 4% increase over 2005

11 HOMELESSNESS IN DUBLIN (contd.) 84% Irish nationals 16% of foreign nationality 10% EU nationals 6% non-eu nationals

12 OPTIONS FOR AVOIDING / EXITING HOMELESSNESS Remaining in owner occupation (despite income reduction) via Mortgage Interest Supplement Social housing Local authority NGOs ( voluntary housing associations ) Private rented sector with rent supplement

13 SOCIAL HOUSING & RENT SUPPLEMENTED (SUB-) TENURES =accommodation allocated (rented) to eligible households at below-market rents by public (local authority) or non-profit (voluntary housing association) bodies = SOCIAL HOUSING. or via subsidies to for-profit providers - participating private landlords = RENT SUPPLEMENT & RENTAL ACCOMODATION SCHEMES.

14 IRISH TENURE RESTRUCTURING (% OF PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS IN PERMANENT ACCOMMODATION) Local Authority Private Rented Owner Occupied Other Voluntary n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 3.5

15 EXISTING BARRIERS TO ACCESSING SOCIAL HOUSING #1 WAITING LISTS FOR SOCIAL HOUSING ,946 households ,249 households

16 EXISTING BARRIERS TO ACCESSING SOCIAL HOUSING #2 Allocation policies of local authorities o the percentage allocation to single homeless is lower than their actual percentage on the homeless housing list. o Greater chance of multi-person households being allocated a tenancy

17 EXISTING BARRIERS TO ACCESSING RENT SUPPLEMENT (RS involves participating private landlords) RS recipients at best can compete for only 30% of the lettings on the Cork market. Over one third of the available lettings are unavailable because the landlord won t consider those dependent on rent supplement one third unavailable because the rents are too high.

18 RISE IN RENT SUPPLEMENT NUMBERS ,000 60,100 80,000

19 EMERGENCY AND SPECIALISED ACCOMMODATION FOR HOMELESS PERSONS Provided by NGOs Hostels Transitional housing Long-term supported housing Specialised voluntary housing associations Tenancy sustainment

20 3. Impact of crisis on avoiding / exiting homelessness

21 IMPACT OF CRISIS ON LOW-INCOME Repossessions? HOME OWNERS Data shows just 96 repossessions in 2008 Many for investment properties New statutory guidelines re timing of court proceedings re arrears Cost of mortgage repayments has reduced substantially

22 IMPACT OF CRISIS ON SOCIAL HOUSING Likely reduced level of capital spending on social housing Currently unclear where projected DoE 200m in cuts will fall Likely negative impact on social housing output and allocations Will reinforce existing barriers in the form of increased waiting lists

23 IMPACT ON RENT SUPPLEMENTED PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR Landlord behaviour Rent setting - falling market rents Tenant selection - increased likelihood of participation of private landlords in rent supplement schemes Affordability Cut in levels of rent supplement Slightly increased (pre-housing) income of welfare-dependant tenants

24 IMPACT ON RENT SUPPLEMENT (CONTD.) Unclear what future cutbacks will occur in rent supplement budget As currently constituted, a needs-led social expenditure A key housing safety net note current pruning of this allowance in the second 2009 Budget

25 IMPACT ON SPECIALIST PROVISION AND EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION NGOs will have to do more with less in terms of stafffing: Department of Health contribution to NGOs and provision of tenancy sustainment reduced DoE homelessness budget may actually rise Note recent announcement of leasing of 300 homes for homeless persons

26 Conclusions In times of economic uncertainty, the division between housed and nonhoused becomes more permeable secure, affordable housing becomes less taken for granted for wide sections of the population Increased levels of housing insecurity

27 Conclusions (contd.) two pay cheques away from homelessness? Overlooks role of housing safety nets Paradoxically, however, the strength of these safety nets is weakened at a time when they are most needed

28 Sources Housing output projections (slide 5): Department of Finance (2009) Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework Framework% pdf Historic housing output data (slide 5): Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government (various years) Housing Statistics Bulletin Table on Irish tenure restructuring (slide 14): based on data from the Irish Census, various years.

29 Sources (contd) Unemployment forecasts (slide 7): Department of Finance (2009) Macroeconomic and Fiscal Framework Data on government finances (slide 8): Department of Finance (2009) Financial Statement of the Minister for Finance Mr. Brian Lenihan T. D. 7 April Homelessness in Dublin (slides 10-11): Homeless Agency (2008) Counted In 2008 (Dublin: Homeless Agency) Waiting lists for social housing (slide 15): Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (2006) Housing Needs Assessment 2005 Detailed Results nload,19148,en.doc Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (2008) Housing Needs Assessment 2008 Preliminary Findings DownLoad,2288,en.xls

30 Sources (contd.) Data on rent supplement (slide 18) Department of Social and Family Affairs (annually) Statistical Information on Social Welfare Services Data on repossessions (slide 21) Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government (2009) Finneran outlines current position on mortgage arrears (press release) Recent announcement of leasing houses for homeless persons (slide 25): O Brien, C. (2009) Hundreds of houses to be leased for use by homeless Irish Times April 20th

31 Sources (contd.) Cork data on barriers to accessing the private rented sector (slide 17): Kiely, J Seeking a home on rent supplement (Cork: Threshold) Allocation policies of local authorities (slide 16) Bergin, E. et al. (2005) Settlement First (Dublin: Simon Communities of Ireland) Finnerty, J. and O Connell, C. (2007) Building on Reality (Cork Social Housing Forum: Cork)