No homes to rent for those facing eviction, homeless charity says

The ban on no-fault evictions is set to be lifted tomorrow when thousands of notices to quit are expected to become active

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Simon Community has revealed the number of properties to rent for vulnerable people facing eviction is at its lowest ever as the housing crisis deepens.

It comes the day before an expected flood of evictions are initiated as the ban on evictions is set to lapse tomorrow. The charity’s Locked Out of the Market report checks how many properties there are for home seekers to rent at any one time.

The report for March shows there were only 672 properties to rent at any price within the 16 areas covered over the three dates surveyed. This was down 11%, or 85 properties, on the previous low of 757 homes identified in the last survey in December.

Worse still for those facing homelessness, only 29 of these homes available to rent match the criteria to qualify for HAP (Housing Assistance Payments) government supports. Wayne Stanley, executive director at the Simon Communities of Ireland, described the findings as “particularly stark”.

Mr Stanley said: “In the real world, when we look at these numbers through the lens of the people we support out of homelessness, the private rental market is no longer an option. The consequences of this have been playing out for some time with growing levels of long-term homelessness and individuals and families unsustainably topping up the payments, in order to exit or avoid homelessnessex