Homeless figures rise above 10,000 people again for January

The figures include a total of 1,611 homeless families, including 925 single parent families. (stock photo)

Allison Bray

The number of homeless people in emergency accommodation crept back up over the 10,000 mark last month, the latest figures from the Department of Housing reveal.

There were a total of 10,271 homeless adults and children availing of emergency accommodation through local authorities, including hotels, B&Bs, hostels and other facilities during the week of January 20 to 26.

The figures include 6,697 adults and 3,574 children.

They also include a total of 1,611 homeless families, including 925 single parent families.

The largest number of homeless people were concentrated in the Dublin region with a total of 4,600 adults aged between 18 and 65.

The largest age cohort of homeless nationwide were 3,850 adults aged between 25 and 44, followed by 1,814 adults aged between 45 and 64.

There were also 869 young people aged between 18 and 24 in emergency accommodation, followed by 164 seniors over the age of 65.

The vast majority of homeless, 3,406, were housed in private emergency accommodation in hotels, and B&Bs followed by 3,233 who were housed in supported accommodation such as hostels.

A spokesman for the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government said the increase in the number of homeless in January over December – which experienced a 7pc decline in numbers from the previous month to a total of 9,713 adults and children at the end of December – is disappointing.

“Over the 12 months in 2019 we saw the number of people in emergency accommodation falling for the first time in many years," he said.

"This overall fall in numbers was not always obvious from the month to month figures. January has always been a challenging month. The challenge now is to continue the overall 2019 trend through 2020."

A spokesperson for the Simon Communities said the homelessness and housing crisis requires urgent attention.

"While a January increase in emergency accommodation numbers is not unexpected following seasonal declines over Christmas, it shows that there is still a mammoth amount of work to be done to turn the corner and move toward everyone’s shared goal of ending homelessness<" national spokesperson Wayne Stanley said.

"The three months of decline of families in emergency accommodation in the Dublin Region at the end of 2019 was an encouraging sign that these combined efforts can have an impact.

"However, to help these efforts and allow people to move on from homelessness permanently, the lack of affordable and social housing supply nationally must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”