Hidden homelessness in Co Wexford sees ten people living in three bedroom houses

Sinn Féin’s local election candidate, Kayley Goodison is concerned that ‘there is an epidemic of hidden homelessness in New Ross’, both in the town and the countryside.

In some of the more extreme cases Goodison is working on, there are up to ten people living in three bedroom houses at the moment.

Goodison said she always understood that there was a housing issue in New Ross but never fully realised the scale of it until she began her election campaign.

“The calls and emails from young women with children who are sofa surfing have bombarded my phone. It is shocking and deeply upsetting. They all feel they have been left behind through no fault of their own but because of the lack of houses to buy and rent in New Ross.”

Referencing Wexford County Council housing figures for New Ross, Goodison said in 2022 there were 640 people on the social housing list in New Ross and today, only 86 houses have been built to solve this issue.

“That’s still over 550 people waiting for a home and that figure is increasing by the day. People are going onto the Choice Based Letting System every week and there are just no homes for them to show interest in because there are simply no properties to select.”

Goodison said that since her campaign is now expanding, the phone calls and emails coming to her from families with young children, mothers, fathers, single men and women who are facing homelessness and who are sofa surfing has become nearly unmanageable for one person alone. Goodison said her number one priority is to now fight for funding to build more houses in New Ross and to lower the high price rents if she is elected on June 7.

“New Ross needs to be put in a rent pressure zone so that rents will no longer be able to increase at a rate that they are now.”

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