'Never waste a good crisis': a solution to Homelessness is now possible

Delboy

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With the current Covid19 crisis and the impact that's had on tourists coming into the country and internal holidaying also, AirBnB operators are mostly running at near zero occupancy I would imagine. And it's likely to remain like that for a few months at least, probably longer.

Why are the Civil Servants in Govt/Local Authorities not approaching those landlords and offering HAP tenancies of 3,5,7 years? At a time when rates could be negotiated in the Taxpayers favour and also a scheme that could pay for itself in terms of savings from putting the homeless families up in hotels. So there might not even be a hit to the State on this.

But will the Govt seize this golden opportunity that has fallen into it's lap? Is there a Civil Servant with the drive/imagination to push this through in the next few months?

I fear not.
 
Why are the Civil Servants in Govt/Local Authorities not approaching those landlords and offering HAP tenancies of 3,5,7 years?

That's not how HAP works, it's up to qualified applicants to source accommodation for themselves.
 
I thought the thread was going to be about all the old people this will kill! :eek:
 
That's not how HAP works, it's up to qualified applicants to source accommodation for themselves.
I know your not being pedantic! And yes, I might not fully understand how HAP works!

But I'm trying to point out an opportunity here and your coming across as a bit of a, how shall I say this, Civil Servant :)

Lets pretend they make a HAP1.1 scheme for homeless people in hotels. And Civil Servants link those people up with vacant AirBnB's that are interested in the scheme.
Do you see any merit in that?
 
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It's not how HAP works but councils do contract with private landlords for long term leases on properties.
 
And Eoghan Murphy is self isolating after a well timed trip abroad... so dont expect any major initiatives for 14 days.
 
Lets pretend they make a HAP1.1 scheme for homeless people in hotels. And Civil Servants link those people up with vacant AirBnB's that are interested in the scheme.
Do you see any merit in that?

I don't understand why you'd want to bring HAP into social housing for those who don't qualify for HAP. There is an option for private property owners to assign their property over the their LA on a long term basis for social housing purposes, but that would involve a massive drop in income in AirBnBers.

People looking for long term social housing don't need to be put in an AirBnB for a couple of months, they want long term security, and for the most part, will only accept that in the location of their choosing close to where they are from or family links. Thinking we can solve the housing crisis with a short term opportunistic move like this is in a similar ballpark to those who think we should allow them live in glorified sheds at the end of their gardens.
 
Ok, forget I mentioned HAP. Lets call it a new Govt funded housing scheme called XYZ.
And I never mentioned it lasting for a few months. Go after 3,5,7 year leases.

AirBnB'ers are currently experiencing a massive income drop. And its going to continue.
Is there any site that monitors DAFT lettings numbers these days? Has there being a spike in the last 2 weeks as the accomm moves from AirBnB to regular rentals?

Yes, this is opportunistic. That's my whole point.
But it doesn't have to be short term
 
Yes, this is opportunistic. That's my whole point.
But it doesn't have to be short term

It makes no sense whatsoever for anyone with a short-term rental property to assign it to the LA for social housing unless you believe there will be no one looking for short term let properties for a number of years. Leaving a short term let empty for a year would return a higher yield than assigning for social housing.

With such a high rate of refusals of housing offers before the crisis, what makes you think they'll now start accepting short term let properties?
 
Well, if the Civil Servants
It makes no sense whatsoever for anyone with a short-term rental property to assign it to the LA for social housing unless you believe there will be no one looking for short term let properties for a number of years. Leaving a short term let empty for a year would return a higher yield than assigning for social housing.

With such a high rate of refusals of housing offers before the crisis, what makes you think they'll now start accepting short term let properties?
Perhaps your right.

I still see no harm in the Civil Servants pursuing this angle and seeing if they could find extra properties....not every AirBnBer will say no to a guaranteed income over a number of years, even if it is much less than they had planned from short term lets.

With the changes in rules/planning restrictions that came in last year for AirBnB, allied to this crisis, perhaps a sizable cohort might want to switch markets.

Anyways, it's all theoretical as I doubt we have the Politicians or Civil Servants with the imagination to go after this
 
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