Families reveal experiences of homelessness in study

The challenges of working and becoming homeless and barriers to finding rental accommodation to escape homelessness are among the experiences revealed by families in a new study.

A total of 52 families who became homeless in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic took part in the qualitative research from Focus Ireland.

They all entered emergency accommodation in Dublin between August 2022 and November 2023, and for 46 of them it was their first experience of homelessness.

The authors of the report, which is part of Focus Ireland's 'Insights' series, stressed that while this study explored the experiences of the families involved, it should not be assumed to be representative of all 1,134 families assessed as homeless in Dublin at the time.

Over half of the participants in the study were single mothers.

It also found that over half of the respondents had been living in accommodation in the private rental sector before entering homelessness, and 23 of the 52 were described as having histories of 'stable' accommodation in the private rental sector prior to becoming homeless.

One of the authors of the report Laurie O'Donnell said: "What I mean by stable is that they had long-term tenancies of between two and 13 years."

The main reason reported by participants for becoming homeless was receiving a 'Notice of Termination' from their landlord because they were selling the property. This was reported by 13 of 52 respondents.

A total of eight of the participants reported that domestic violence was the cause of their family's homelessness.

In a significant shift from previous reports, 22 of the 52 respondents reported being in full or part-time employment while homeless.

Additionally, the report's authors noted that some participants who were unemployed indicated that they had to give up employment before becoming homeless due to the challenges of getting to work and getting children to school.

Ms O'Donnell explained: "We had one experience where the mum had to give up her job because her 17-year-old wasn't allowed to be left in the (emergency) accommodation unsupervised, while I think you'll agree, if she had her own home no one would think that leaving their 17-year-old son alone in your own home would be a big issue."

One positive from the report was that most participants, 45 of the 52, sought advice and support when they knew their home was at risk, though non-Irish parents were less likely to be aware of the supports available.

However, the report sets out that participants found "available support did not prevent their homelessness but rather only delayed it" and that 11 participants reported experiencing administrative barriers and delays in getting access to emergency accommodation when their families needed it.

"I could only ring the council on the day I moved out of the property. Very little answers to emails/phone calls. It was really stressful not knowing where I would be placed," one participant said.

Almost one-third of participants expressed dissatisfaction with the living conditions in emergency accommodation.

One participant described having a broken door for the first three weeks.

"There’s no lock, so I had to put my pram up and lock it. I shouldn't feel like I’m barricading myself in the room," she said.

"It is disgusting, it is beyond cleaning. My daughter has injections in her leg and she needs it to be sterile, I can’t do that," another woman said.

Three quarters of participants had experience looking for accommodation with the support of HAP (Housing Assistance Payment).

For the remaining 13, the main reason they had not relied on HAP was because their application was still being processed or had only recently been approved.

One participant "refused to use it because they felt that it was more of a hindrance than anything else".

A total of 18 of the participants reported applying for more than 100 properties.

"I put in my email that I had HAP Payments, deposit, and two months rent ready, and I rarely got a response," one participant said.

"I feel it’s quite off-putting as I have applied for so many properties but received very little response," said another.

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A total of 12 participants said they believed mentioning HAP was a barrier to getting viewings for properties.

"If we put in the description that we are on HAP or have a baby, we won’t get viewings," one respondent said.

"I have full garda clearance and amazing references as well as first month’s rent and deposit. I just want a place to call home," another said.

At the time of interview, only six families had exited homelessness and were housed.

In response to the findings, Focus Ireland has developed a series of recommendations aimed at tackling family homelessness.

To prevent people from becoming homeless, they have called on the next government to establish "a cross-departmental task force to address the systemic disadvantages faced by lone parents".

The charity also called for the implementation of "existing recommendations to improve co-ordination between domestic violence, housing, and homelessness services".

For those who enter emergency accommodation, Focus Ireland wants to see trauma-informed approaches adopted across all family emergency accommodations, with comprehensive staff training, regular inspections of facilities, and family placements near support networks to be prioritised, especially for lone parents and children with additional needs.

When it comes to supporting people to exit homelessness, the charity is calling for an increase in HAP rental thresholds for larger families to improve access to affordable housing and for housing options for long-term homeless families to be widened.

Focus Ireland said this improvement can be achieved by allocating additional social housing and developing and enhancing the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), which it says would be attractive to landlords and provide secure homes.