Dublin Simon event to discuss ‘almost impossible’ task of finding a place to rent

A former homeless man who says his life was saved by Dublin Simon is hosting an event tonight to discuss the impossibility, for some, of

gaining rented accommodation in the capital.

The “speak-out” organised by the charity will bring current and former service-users together to talk about finding a place to live when many landlords will not accept rent allowance and when it is almost impossible to find anywhere within the rent allowance cap of €520 a month.

The host is Paddy Duffy, an artist who slept rough for several years in Cork, Tralee and Dublin. He was hospitalised “15 to 20 times”, sectioned, imprisoned and is a former chronic alcoholic. It was while he was begging one night in 2008 that someone from the Dublin Simon soup run hunkered down and talked to him.

“It was raining badly and I would have been happy to go [to die] at that point, but this man sat down and talked to me, asked me about myself. He was very kind to me,” he said.

The outreach worker asked him to contact Simon the next day and to go into emergency accommodation. He got a place in Simon’s residential alcohol detoxification centre, where he stayed for 21 months.

“That was a real eye-opener for me. It was a roof over my head, somewhere safe, support and I realised, ‘I can do this’,” he said.

He is now in a “much better place”, studying for a BA in social care, writing and producing plays and living in an apartment in James’s Street.

No deposit
He knows, however, how difficult it is to find a home in the capital, when you have been homeless, when you have no deposit for a flat and particularly when you are dependent on rent allowance.

“And it’s much worse now. In fact I’d say it’s almost impossible now,” he says. “I meet a lot of people in terrible situations, who might be trying to overcome addictions and go back into it partly because finding a place to live is just so difficult.”

Also contributing to the event, titled Rent – Opening or Closing Doors?, will be Dublin city councillors, a representative of the Private Residential Tenancies Board and another from Dublin City Council.

Another contributor will be Owen, who asked for his surname to be withheld. He is in a hostel he likes, has been sober since January but still feels “very shaky inside”.

Rent caps
He has been in the hostel for almost five months and must leave after six months there. His only option is a hostel where there will be drinking and drug-use. He cannot find private rented accommodation within the rent caps.

“I had a good life once, responsibilities,” he said, “Now I feel voiceless, though I hope this event will help people hear what’s really going on in Dublin. There is a crisis in housing.”

Says Mr Duffy: “We hope the event will help inform policy. Something has to be done about rent – there should be rent controls and a certain proportion of accommodation should always be available to people on rent allowance. The rent caps need to be higher.

“In the end, it costs far more when people can’t rent somewhere. It costs more in emergency accommodation, in the mental health costs, the courts, addiction services. Anyone who has been homeless would be able to tell you that, but no-one seems to be listening.”