Homeless people living in emergency accommodation like hostels and B&Bs will be helped to move out into private rented flats by a new service launched yesterday.
The Access Housing Unit (AHU) operated by the housing organisation Threshold was set up to assist the homeless, particularly single people who do not have the resources or confidence to find their own flat or bed-sit.
Four out of five people living in emergency accommodation were single, and the majority were men, the director of Threshold, Mr Patrick Burke, said.
The number of homeless on the streets was decreasing but people were living in crisis accommodation for longer, sometimes as long as four years. More families were being housed by local authorities so most in emergency accommodation looking for flats or bed-sits were single.
Mr Russell Chapman, AHU manager, said the people referred to the AHU were homeless but could manage in their own place with a little support. Often they found it difficult to find this accommodation in the first place.
The benefit to the landlord was that they interviewed all potential tenants and only recommended those they felt would cope on their own place.
The AHU worked by taking referrals of potential tenants from other homeless service providers, including Focus Ireland, Dublin Simon Community and Merchant's Quay Ireland.
Mr Chapman said there were difficulties under the Rent Supplement Scheme which for single people had a €115 cap. In a bed-sit survey they undertook of 544 landlords, the rent averaged at more than €121 per week.
Mr Burke said the AHU, which is funded by the Homeless Agency, created a win-win situation for everyone. The homeless moved into homes, landlords made a living and the Government saved money.
"It costs €20,000 a year to keep someone in emergency accommodation and about €6,500 a year for a person living in the private sector under the Rent Supplement Scheme," he said.
He called for the service to be replicated in every local authority area in the country.
A "tenancy sustainment" service which involves em- ployess of AHU visiting people in their own homes and helping them to acquire the confidence and skills has been developed as part of the AHU.
Mr Chapman said home visits helped the AHU to know if a person was coping. "A worker can check if the person knows how all the appliances work, if there is food in the fridge and that bills are not lying round unpaid."
Last year, the AHU in a pilot project in Dublin helped 127 people move out of emergency accommodation, including 57 single people and 54 children.
It is estimated that about 1,000 single people are in emergency accommodation with 250 lone parents or couples in the greater Dublin area.
The AHU was launched by radio broadcaster George Hook.