Focus Ireland calls for greater Govt urgency to complete its HAP review to help ease crisis as homelessness rises to a new record level of 17,112
- Charity makes call as new rental regulations come into effect this Sunday
New figures from the Department of Housing reveal that a record 17,112 people were homeless in January, including 5,319 children across 2,555 families. This represents a 378 rise in the number homeless from December and a 12% increase over the past year, with child homelessness shooting up by 16% in the same period.
Focus Ireland CEO Pat Dennigan said: “It is disgraceful to see yet another record number of people homeless as the total rises above 17,000 for the first time – and it is heartbreaking that this number includes 5,319 children. Homelessness hurts everyone but we know it hurts children the most and we are working hard in partnership with the State and other NGO’s every day to protect people while they are homeless.’’
‘’Even as the crisis is deepening it must be remembered that homelessness can be solved if the right policies are in place and we are ending homelessness for families and individuals every day. However, we need a shift in policy to ease this human crisis.”
Focus Ireland has welcomed the aspects of the new rental regulations (which come into effect on Sunday) which give greater security to new tenants. However, the charity has long warned that, without parallel changes to HAP, the clause that allows rents to rise to ‘market levels’ will result in more people becoming homeless or remaining homeless for longer – as rents become unaffordable.
Mr Dennigan said: “The new regulations allow rents to be reset to market levels whenever a landlord has a vacancy and is seeking a new tenant, and this means that anyone seeking a new tenancy from this week will be paying substantially higher than they would have been last month. No-one including the Government knows what this increase will be, but informed estimates range from 10% to 25%.
Because Government has failed to increase the levels of Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) for nine years, people who were relying on HAP to move out of homelessness into private rental will simply not be able to exit. HAP is a vital tool in tackling homelessness. In 2025, in Dublin City alone, 3,000 people moved out of homelessness using HAP tenancies. This escape route will be closed off to people in the same circumstances from Sunday, due to the new market rents and the failure to increase HAP to reflect them.
Mr Dennigan added: “During the consultation on these rental changes, Focus Ireland emphasised that the key issue in relation to homelessness was how HAP was adjusted to reflect the new rental regulations. It is deeply regrettable the Government has not listened on this issue and there is no clear timeline for the review of HAP. Households relying on HAP now face the situation from Sunday where rents can be reset and increased to ‘market rents’ for new tenancies.”
Meanwhile, Focus Ireland also welcomed Government plans to publish the first ever Child and Family Homelessness Action Plan, a plan for which Focus Ireland has been calling for the last ten years.
Mr. Dennigan said: “This plan could really help us to get to grips with this crisis and is a key chance to strengthen protections and find long-term solutions for children and families who are homeless. The Government must grasp this opportunity to deliver real change. Our recent submission recommends important measures such as timely child support worker access for every child who is homeless to lessen the harm caused by homelessness. We are also seeking adequate funding for a relaunched Tenant in Situ scheme to prevent family homelessness due to no-fault evictions on tenancies started before 2026 (& tenancies of smaller landlords) which are not covered by new rental rules.”
ENDS
Media contact: Roughan Mac Namara – 086 85 15 117