Homelessness in Youth is emerging as a significant social problem in Dublin these days. The number of young people aged 18-24 experiencing homelessness in Ireland has increased by 85% in the past three years. Another figure by Focus Ireland shows there has been a significant increase in the ratio of young people living in emergency homeless at the end of October 2020.
Dublin was ranked the worst city in the world to find a place to live in the Expat City Ranking published in 2019. A total of 86 percent of people surveyed from overseas living in Dublin said they found it difficult to get housing, compared to an average of 32 percent globally. A total of 88 percent do not find housing in Dublin affordable and find a place to live in, also the high cost of living was pointed out.
The first victims of the housing crisis are young people. In particular, those who grew up in the care system, and who are in receipt of full welfare payments but unable to secure accommodation along with young people who are parents and are accommodated as the parent in a ‘homeless family’. Private landlords, social housing bodies, and local authorities have been reluctant to rent to people in these situations.
According to Focus Ireland, Affordable housing and social housing is the key to solve this crisis. They suggested public housing, as a solution to the housing crisis. In order to solve the housing crisis in Dublin, one of the most important factors is building more public housing. There is public housing built but it is not enough which is specific for the most vulnerable. It is necessary to build at least 20,000 homes and it needs to be going into the range of 35,000 homes soon, as the housing crisis is getting worse. Furthermore, they point out that freezing rent by landlords is necessary because most of the houses in Dublin are owned by private landlords.
