Nine people live in Angela Coughlan’s two-bedroom home in Ballyfermot, Dublin.
A retired pharmacy assistant, she had been sharing the house she inherited from her mother, with her brother Norman and adult son John. But when her daughter, Susan (26), lost her private-rented house over a year ago she “had to take her in”.
Unable to find another house to rent despite strenuous efforts, Susan moved in, with her five children – Eamonn (8), Shane (6), Jack (4) and twins, Darcy and Dexter (18 months).
The landlord needed the house back for a family member returning from the US.
“I was looking for somewhere else but there were only two-bedroom houses available and the rents were all around €1,400,” explained Susan. “No one wants to accept rent allowance and no one wants to rent to anyone with kids anymore. When they ask if you have kids, you can’t lie to them.”
Susan and her children are among a growing population of "hidden homeless". Though they have no home of their own, they are not classified as "homeless" by Dublin City Council. Instead they live with extended family in overcrowded conditions that would not be permissible in public housing.
Many of the 607 families now in emergency accommodation in the city had first stayed with extended family like this, until the arrangements became unsustainable.
Sharing a cot
Norman, who used to sleep in the front room, sleeps on a two-seat couch in the kitchen. Eamon, Shane and Jack share a small double bed in the front room. John has a single room upstairs – he has a daughter who stays once a week – while Angela and Susan share a double bed in the main bedroom, with Darcy and Dexter sharing a baby’s cot in the same room.
“They are killing each other for space in the cot,” said Angela, “keeping us awake. One is always awake by about 6am and has to be brought into the bed with is before they wake the whole house.”
If Susan presented at homeless services she would move on to a housing priority waiting list. However, she would be placed in a B&B or hotel room with her five children, where she could be waiting for more than two years. Where she is, she has been advised she will be waiting at least three years for housing.
She has been on the council housing waiting list for seven years.
“I thought I’d find somewhere else to rent. I thought we’d be here a few weeks. There are too many of us here. It’s very stressful, stressful for the kid too. There are too many adults giving out to them, telling them different things.”
Angela agrees the stress is affecting everyone in the house. “Even things like the bathroom, the washing machine, the bins. This house was not designed for nine people. It’s too many. There is no peace, no space. It doesn’t feel like a home for any of us like this.”
