154 households have registered as homeless so far this year
154 new households registered homeless across the county
154 new individuals or households across South Dublin have registered as homeless so far this year.
The 154 new presentations are part of data tracked up until October, with the most recent complete month of November yet to be accounted for.
The latest figures were recorded by the local council’s homeless unit and relate to individuals or households who received a valid notice of termination from their landlord.
New rules regarding tenancy are set to be brought in nationwide in March 2026, which allows tenants to stay in rented accommodation for up to six years after an initial six-month period, eviction only possible for a small number of reasons dependant on if the landlord is ‘large’ or ‘small.’
Councillor Madeleine Johansson stated her shock at the figure and noted that it is the consequence of Government decisions.
Cllr Johansson said: “These are generally, for the most part, people that have done absolutely nothing wrong and landlords have just decided to give them a notice and these families and individuals have ended up in our homeless services and emergency accommodation.
“This is the consequence of the lifting of the eviction ban a number of years ago by the Government.”
The eviction ban Madeleine refers to was an emergency ban placed on evictions from October 2022 to March 2023.
The Government at the time, led by then-Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, decided to let the ban lapse rather than extend it, a move many of the opposition parties were against.
New rules set to be implemented in March 2026 add more protection for tenants, but the time before those rules come into effect offers no extra protection for renters.
Cllr Johansson stated that this period prior to the new rules taking effect has seen more notices issued by landlords ahead of the changes.
The Clondalkin councillor said: “I’m myself dealing with a number of families that have eviction notices for early next year, and it’s virtually impossible to find anywhere to rent on HAP or Homeless HAP.
“People are just really desperate at the moment to try and find a new home…if you’re introducing such rules, you can’t essentially give landlords several months to issue notices to tenants and to evict people.
“Because clearly what’s going to happen is that these families and individuals will have nowhere to go and end up homeless. That’s the logical conclusion of a decision like that, you know?”
Cllr Johansson described the housing market as one that is limited for those seeking a place to live on various forms of Housing Assistance Payments.
Speaking about online marketplaces, the councillor noted that the limited amount of properties that fall under that description in areas like Clondalkin and Lucan lead to a high demand for each listing.
She stated that the situation is “horrible” for anyone searching for accommodation, made worse by an urgent need for it.
“I went through eviction and all that myself and I know how absolutely horrible and stressful it is for anyone who is sitting with a notice of termination from a landlord and not knowing where you’re going to be living.
“There’s so much stress on families and then those who are unfortunate enough that they can’t find other accommodation – going through homelessness, emergency accommodation, being sent into town to a B&B.
“Which is where families are being sent at the moment because there’s nowhere else – all the family hubs and stuff are full. So that’s really traumatic, particularly for children to go through that.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
