Councillor makes appeal for homeless families in Waterford City

A local councillor has made an urgent appeal for homeless families living in Waterford City. 

At the January meeting of the Metropolitan Council, Councillor Joeanne Bailey spoke about the lack of housing for families.

Cllr Bailey said: "I have had six different notice to quit calls from people today. Each case different: a single man, single families with children, one lady with three children, a couple with children. They're all under pressure to find properties to rent in the city.

"They have presented to homeless services and with shortage in units to rent, they are being told to come back on the day of the notice to quit.

"Now I understand homeless services are under pressure to source units also but asking a family to come back on the day they must hand back the keys is very stressful. They don’t know until [the] day where they will be placed, leaving them wondering what items they need to bring or arrange to have stored, etc."

She continued: "Some emergency accommodation is a hotel, so if you are living in a property six years, like a lady I spoke to today, where does she bring her furniture bits she has gathered over the years?"

Cllr Bailey asked for reports on the number of people living in emergency accommodation in Waterford City.

She asked: "Can I get a breakdown of how many people are in emergency accommodation for the metro area and how long on average does it take form someone in emergency accommodation to be housed. Also can I put out an appeal if anyone who knows of any apartments or houses for rent to please get in touch."

Senior Executive officer Claire Hartley responded that the private rental market is impacting the availability of housing units in the city. 

She said: "It is a stark situation for families, we absolutely understand that, but we are increasing our family emergency accommodation. We would use our own stock; and yes we are also contracting rooms and family units in a local hotel." She noted that funding for additional staff for the year had been submitted.

Ms Hartley added: "We are operating in in a very constrained, private rental market. I suppose that's the reality of it."