Simon Week 2024

Public Housing Delivery

The Simon Communities of Ireland call on the next Government to prioritise a greater ambition for public housing delivery by: 

• Implementing the Housing Commission’s recommendations for the social housing sector. 
• Committing to set ambitious housing targets that reflect the current housing deficit along with future need.
• Commiting to increase the share of social homes to 20% of the overall housing stock. 
• Delivering housing which reflects the composition of households with a social housing need. 
• Establishing a social housing allocations policy that reflects the current crisis and prioritises the allocation of homes to those in long-term homelessness. 
• Recognising that HAP tenancies are insecure and therefore do not meet household’s long-term housing need. The HAP scheme should be reformed and reset as a short-term support. Households living in HAP tenancies should remain on social housing waiting lists and should not be deemed as having their social housing need met. 
• Explicitly set out in legislation that access to social housing has no bearing on access to the humanitarian support of emergency accommodation. 

Making Efficient Use of Existing Housing Stock: Tackling Vacancy 

The Simon Communities of Ireland urge the next Government to tackle vacancy and dereliction across Ireland, ensuring that a considerable proportion of these homes are returned for social housing use by: 

• Setting ambitious targets on the return of vacant properties for social and affordable use, backed by the necessary resourcing. 
• Reviewing the conditions of the Vacant Homes Tax, including exemptions and issues around self-assessment. 
• Ensuring that all local authorities are fully equipped with the knowledge and resources to become more proactive with their power to compulsory purchase vacant and derelict properties. 
• Provide local authorities with the necessary resources to implement a whole-of-authority approach to tackling vacancy using dedicated steering committees within each local authority. 

Stop Homelessness Before it Starts: Comprehensive Prevention and Early Intervention 

The next Government must prioritise and adequately resource comprehensive prevention and early intervention to prevent homelessness from occurring and reoccurring by: 

• Investing in and supporting homeless prevention measures – A designated funding line for prevention work should be developed under Section 10 of the Housing Act 1988. 
• Inserting a legal duty for local authorities to provide homelessness prevention support to those experiencing homelessness.
• Adopting upstream prevention policies. 
• Implementing the Simon Homeless Prevention Bill. 
• Continuing the tenant in situ scheme, 
• Establishing an independent, statutory appeals process for the purpose of social housing assessments. 

Addressing Poverty and Deprivation 

The next Government must commit to addressing poverty and deprivation by:

• Benchmarking social welfare payments against a minimum standard of living. 

Providing Security in the Private Rental Sector

The PRS is one of the main drivers of homelessness. Improving tenants’ security of tenure would act as an additional homeless prevention measure. The next Government must provide greater security to households living in the PRS by:

• Continuing to move away from the over-reliance on PRS housing allowances (HAP) to provide social housing. 
• Increasing HAP rates in line with market rents. 
• Increasing Rent Supplement rates in line with ‘existing tenancy’ rents. 
• Delivering cost-rental housing at scale to take pressure off the PRS and enable a more sustainable housing system overall. 

Tackling Long-Term Homelessness, Reducing Pressure on the Emergency Shelter System 

The next Government must prioritise exits for people entrenched in long-term homelessness, reducing pressure on the already constrained emergency shelter system by:

• Working with local authorities and council members to establish social housing allocations policies that reflect the current crisis and prioritises the allocation of homes to those in long-term homelessness.
• Expanding and resourcing the Housing First programme at scale. 
• Exploring communal Housing First as a solution for the small percentage of people that HF does not work for. 
• Expanding housing-led solutions for people living in emergency accommodation who have support needs but do not qualify for Housing First. 
• Introducing a dedicated stream of housing and support for those leaving residential addiction treatment who have no homes to return to. 
• Continuing to expand the Housing First programme to include families with additional support needs who have become entrenched in long-term homelessness. 
• Ensuring no one spends longer than six months living in emergency accommodation. 

Supporting Children Experiencing Homelessness 

The next Government must commit to ensure children who are at risk of experiencing homelessness are adequately supported and their interests and rights are at the forefront of decisions made in relation to homeless services by:

• Ensuring every child experiencing homelessness has access to a childcare worker, should they require one. 
• Implementing the Housing (Homeless Families) Bill 2017, requiring local authorities to put the best interests of the child first in any decisions made in relation to supporting households seeking homelessness services. 
• Inserting a statutory limit on the time a family may spend in emergency accommodation and inserting regulations in relation to the type of emergency accommodation that families may be accommodated in. 

Providing Health Addiction and Wellbeing Support 

The next Government must commit to improving the health outcomes of those experiencing homelessness by: 

• Providing adequately resources outreach and in-reach community orientated health services. 
• Ensuring timely access to addiction services, including treatment, detoxification, rehabilitation and aftercare services. 
• Committing to approaching drug and alcohol use with a health-led approach through the development of the next National Drugs Strategy. 
• Implementing the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use.  

Supporting Homeless Services 

The next Government must address the years on inadequate funding for homeless services by: 

• Committing to provide multi-annual funding that reflects the full cost of delivering homeless services and restores par parity with public sector colleagues. 

Tackling homelessness requires cross-departmental coordination and action to drive the change that is needed. In order to drive the actions set out in our manifesto, we need a driving force to lead its implementation. We believe there are a number of ways this could be achieved but would advocate for the following: 

• The Right to Housing – this could act as a driving force for the policy change that is necessary to tackle homelessness. 
• Minister of State with responsibility for homelessness –