Demand for homeless services at ‘unprecedented level’ in Kilkenny

Kilkenny has reached capacity in its emergency accommodation with a number of people now sleeping rough across the county.

The number of homeless presentations being dealt with by the Homeless Services Team at Kilkenny County Council continues to increase, with the number of emergency beds and HAP rental properties reducing in number. The situation is leading to significant challenges in service provision for the Homeless Services Team.

According to the local authority’s latest figures based on the number of homeless presentations year to date there is a 22% increase in the number of homeless presentations. If this trend continues the number of people presenting in need of emergency accommodation in 2022 will exceed 400.

This level of demand is unprecedented. The report also stated that the local authority are aware of a number of rough sleepers in the county and are providing support services where possible.

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The availability of private rented accommodation to allow people to move from emergency accommodation has also reduced significantly with less than ten rental properties advertised in the county.

In addition the number of HAP supported tenancies has reduced steadily over the past two years. As a result Kilkenny has reached capacity in its emergency accommodation and has a waiting list for emergency accommodation with numbers expected to increase.

Kilkenny County Council has prepared a Housing Delivery Action Plan, 2022-2026 to outline how social and affordable homes will be delivered to meet the targets set for Kilkenny under the Housing For All Plan. According to the plan in 2022 there are 170 social units planned for Kilkenny and five affordable housing units.