On 3 October 2015 over a hundred people came together in Liberty Hall to address the current housing and homelessness crisis. Included were activists, academics, community organisers, trade union representatives, and various individuals who have been personally affected by the housing crisis. There were those who had been made homeless through economic evictions, or were experiencing problems with their private landlord. There were those who have been on the social housing waiting list for years, with no end in sight. And there were many others who, for one reason or another, were being affected by the lack of affordability, supply, and security of tenure that is characteristic of housing in Ireland, and Dublin in particular.
While a number of talks by academics and others placed the current housing crisis within the context of Ireland’s increasing moves towards a commodified system of housing, the real purpose of the day was to create a participatory dialogue about the problems and more importantly solutions to the problem of housing.
In attendance on the day were students from the MA in Geography at Maynooth University. In this series of posts, they report back on the conference presentations, discussions, and proposed solutions.
#1 Samantha Smallhorne Dunne gives an overview of the themes and talks of the day.
#2 Sasha Brown reflects on the democratic structure of the conference and on making decisions collectively.
#3 Kellie Payne looks at practical housing solutions to address homelessness suggested by the group.
#4 Patrick Geaney looks at the prospect of changing the remit of NAMA to address the housing problem.
#5 Caoilfhionn D’Arcy looks at renting solutions and funding social housing.
A follow-up event, The People’s Housing Forum, will be held this Saturday 28 November in Liberty Hall. Anyone interested in the issue of housing, please come along and join the discussion.
November 23, 2015
Towards a Real Housing Strategy #5: Renting Solutions and Funding Social Housing
Posted by irelandafternama under #Commentaries, conference | Tags: homelessness, housing, rental market, towards a real housing strategy |[2] Comments
Introduction
Situated in Liberty Hall, the Housing Crisis Conference brought together people of all academic, social and political backgrounds to discuss the ongoing crisis occurring in our own backyard. It was essential that at such a conference it was not just academics and public representatives that had the opportunity to voice their opinion, but that ordinary people would also be heard. Families in emergency accommodation, high rents and insufficient government support are issues that were addressed with suggestions of government intervention and an increase in provision of public housing among the solutions discussed. This report will discuss the Renting & Funding Social Housing workshop outlining the issues and solutions deliberated throughout the session. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Cian O’ Callaghan, Maynooth University, with guest speakers Dr. Lorcan Sirr, Lecturer in housing DIT, Des Derwin, SIPTU Dublin and Simon Brook, Clúid.
“Where have the houses gone?”
Focus Ireland states that in 2014 the number of additional families entering emergency housing in Dublin was 40 a month, doubling from the previous year. January 2015 saw a further increase, with a total of 400 families in Emergency Accommodation. This figure then increased by 76% to 700 families in August. Des Derwin revealed that 1,257 children are included in these 700 families, leaving them with a very unstable life. Drawing on the discussion, Derwin, posed the question of how we have gone from ghost estates, to families sleeping in parks. “Where have the houses gone?” he asked the room. According to a report published by UCD and DIT, 170,000 houses were left vacant in 2010 following an excess of building during the Celtic Tiger. Five years on, can we really believe that some of these houses are not still available? The discussion reflected on how leaving the provision of housing to the market led to oversupply during the boom but to a deep crisis of inaccessibility and unaffordability during the recession, particularly as mortgages have dried up, rents continue to increase and the numbers of people left homeless continues to rise. Shelter, or housing, should be seen as a basic human right and this was highlighted on numerous occasions throughout the workshop. (more…)
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