CALLS to Irish housing charity Threshold doubled in 2016 as people struggled to keep a roof over their heads.
The charity’s annual report showed it received 71,319 calls last year – a 100 per cent increase on 2015, with almost a third of calls from people who were at risk of losing their homes.
Some 89 per cent of Threshold’s clients live in private rented accommodation, but with rent rises and a shortage of properties leaving families facing poverty and overcrowding, the charity has urged the Government to strengthen investment in homelessness prevention measures.
Threshold chairperson Dr Aideen Hayden said: “The unprecedented level of calls received by Threshold in 2016 is indicative of the financial and mental distress experienced by those living in the private rented sector, where there remains an acute shortage of supply.
“Individuals and families find themselves in dire situations as competition for homes at the bottom end of the rented market has led to greater poverty and the emergence of overcrowding and falling standards.
“We are particularly concerned with the rise of hidden homelessness, where people who have already lost their rented homes are living with family members or friends and where the physical circumstances place pressure on relationships, which bring them one step away from homelessness.”
Eleven people in one room
Tenancy terminations and substandard accommodation were the two main issues affecting Threshold’s clients.
The charity says a minority of landlords are using the housing crisis to exploit those who are forced into substandard accommodation due to economic necessity or because of the lack of suitable alternative accommodation.
One case study in the charity’s annual report documented 22 people living in a three-bedroom house. One room was shared by 11 people, each paying €320 a month in rent.
There is currently no definition for overcrowding in minimum standards legislation.
Threshold is urgently calling for emergency legislation to be put in place introducing a legal definition of overcrowding to prevent unnecessary deaths as a result of poor living standards.
Dr Hayden added: “We acknowledge that the Government is introducing measures to tackle this crisis – and I am glad to see that Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) are beginning to have an effect on rent price inflation.
“However, renting continues to be a precarious venture in this country and there is much more the Government should be doing to protect tenants.”
See More: Featured, Homelessness, Housing Crisis
