Opinion: Families in Ireland are being locked out of the private rental market

Will Ireland ever get out of this housing crisis?

Year after year we talk about the housing crisis in Ireland, but nothing ever seems to change. Families in particular are finding themselves left with nowhere to turn, not just because of a lack of social or affordable housing, but also because they feel pushed out of the private rental market. The private rental market is a nightmare for most people at the moment, but families are really feeling left out in the cold, as landlords don't want to rent to them. The reason? Money, of course. A landlord will get more for a rental property if they let out each room individually to students or workers rather than renting the whole housing unit to a family. Families I know have had to move in with relatives when their landlord decided to sell the house they were living in. Some landlords are also unwilling to accept payments like HAP. The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Scheme HAP is a form of social housing support provided by all local authorities. Under HAP, local authorities can provide housing assistance to households with a long-term housing need, including many long-term Rent Supplement recipients. With more and more properties being snatched up by vulture funds and very little affordable housing being built, where exactly do families go from here when they also struggle rent privately? There doesn't seem to be any government intervention in sight. According to housing charity Focus Ireland, there are currently almost 8,000 people homeless in the Republic of Ireland. This number includes over 900 familes and 2,167 children.

"The root cause of the homeless crisis in Ireland is the broken housing system. Ireland does not have a public housing system to meet the needs of the society. Provision of affordable public housing must form a key part of any country’s housing system."

It's unclear what can be done for families stuck between a rock and a hard place until the government decide to tackle the housing crisis head on. Until then, families continue to struggle to find housing; a basic human right.