Housing Minister James Browne has stated that he is confident his new housing strategy will lead to a reduction in homelessness across the country.
Over recent years, the monthly homelessness figures have continued to climb under both this Government and the previous one, consistently setting new records for the number of people relying on emergency accommodation, reports Breaking News.
The revised housing strategy, due for release later this week, outlines steps aimed at curbing homelessness and includes a substantial funding increase for the Land Development Agency.
Mr Browne said the initiative focuses on “activating supply, but also supporting people,” reports Breaking News.
When asked whether the plan would help bring down the rising monthly homelessness numbers, he responded: “I believe it will.
“The only way to address homelessness in this country, the only way to address high rents, is by supply. It’s by getting more and more houses, more and more apartments delivered at all the tenures right across the country to give people the other homes that they need, and that will address the costs of our housing for renters and provide the homes that people need in emergency accommodation to be able to exit,” reports Breaking News.
Mr Browne declined to specify when he expected the figures to start dropping, saying: “I’ve never gotten into the forecasting game, I’m always about results.”
He also emphasised the importance of creating “opportunities” for older citizens to “right size” within their housing options, reports Breaking News.
“If they want to stay in the home that they’ve lived in all their life, that they raised their children, that has to be their right. But if they want to right size, that has to be their option and their decision,” reports Breaking News.
Both Mr Browne and Taoiseach Micheál Martin addressed questions regarding the plan before it was due to be presented to Cabinet on Wednesday.
Mr Martin described the Government’s forthcoming housing plan as representing “the most unprecedented investment in housing ever”. He added that the package would provide a “significant” funding uplift for the Land Development Agency (LDA), reports Breaking News.
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