We have recently been working on several cases where families have been recognised as homeless by the housing authority and have been put on the ‘self-accommodation option’, which means they are obliged to source their own hotel accommodation to meet their emergency accommodation needs. For vulnerable families, they are frequently unable to source such accommodation […]

Securing suitable emergency accommodation for pregnant mother and her family MLRC recently worked with a family who had been placed in unsuitable emergency accommodation, which, according to medical reports, presented a risk to our client’s unborn child. After MLRC made several representations on behalf of the family to the Council, they were moved into suitable […]

As part of MLRC’s work, we provide training in housing law to organisations and individuals working in the field of homelessness. In January, MLRC held a training session in advanced housing law for staff of Crosscare. Our training session gave practical advice and information, with a focus on: An overview of housing law and the […]

Mercy Law Resource Centre is a member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Initiative (ESCRI). ESCRI is a coalition of over 60 civil society organisations that support strengthening the protection of economic, social and cultural rights in the Irish Constitution. On 29 March, ESCRI is holding a conference on economic, social and cultural rights […]

On 7 April 2016, Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), often known as voluntary housing associations, were brought under the remit of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). Part 2 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2015 (the Act) provided for this change. The change came into effect on 7 April 2016 (by S.I. 151 of 2016). As […]

We had an exceptionally busy year in 2016 and during the year saw a very big increase in the number of people contacting us for advice and also an increase in High Court litigation brought on behalf of our clients. Cases on unlawful refusal by housing authorities to provide emergency accommodation One particularly common and […]

We recently acted for a family who were refused emergency accommodation by a Council on the basis, the Council said, that they were “intentionally homeless”. The Council considered that the family should return to the United Kingdom, where they had lived for a short period immediately prior to presenting as homeless. Following our issuing of […]