More than half the people on waiting lists for social housing are younger than 45 and three out of every four is female, a study carried out for the Housing Authority has found.
Some 30 per cent of people on the waiting list are between 26 and 35 years old, while a further 24.4 per cent are aged between 36 and 45.
Half of those on the waiting list are single. Some 27 per cent are separated or divorced, while almost 16 per cent are married.
The statistics are part of a profile of social housing applicants carried out by academics Vincent Marmara and Maria Brown and commissioned by the Housing Authority.
Researchers received replies from 2030 of the 3382 people on the social housing waiting list. They interviewed 120 people, with a further 40 people also participating in in-depth interviews.
The study, which began in 2018, found that the majority of applicants hail from the Southern Harbour (29.9 per cent) and Northern Harbour (29.6 per cent) areas.
Working or not?
Many (39 per cent) of those waiting for housing are unemployed, while 29.2 per cent work full-time, 9.9 per cent have a part-time job, 14.1 per cent are pensioners and 12.1 per cent are housewives or husbands.
Applicants who are unemployed cited problems in finding child care, health problems, an inability to find suitable work, taking care of an elderly person, having a disability and or caring for a child with a disability as reasons for their failure to find work.
Some 58.5 per cent of unemployed social housing applicants said that they would be willing to work, if given help to address their issues.
Applicants who work full-time earn an average of €872 per month, the study found. Those working part-time earned an average of €438, with pensioners averaging income of €579 per month and those living on social benefits receiving an average of €530 a month.
Current accommodation
Just over half of all applicants are currently living in rented accommodation, while just over a quarter are living in a shared residence where they do not pay rent. Some 11.1 per cent are living in a shared accommodation where they pay rent while 10.9 per cent are living in “tolleranza”, meaning they are either occupying a property with the consent of the owner rent free or are sharing accommodation in a property where they are not recognised tenants.
Applicants who currently pay rent fork out an average of €252 per month for housing/ If those who pay between €1 and €50 in rent per month are excluded from the data, the average monthly spend on rent rises to €321 a month.
When asked what would be a fair and affordable rent to pay per month, applicants responded it would be an average of €174.
Asked if they would consider purchasing their own property with the government’s help, 58.4 per cent of applicants said that they would do so.
When asked what were the biggest stumbling blocks to purchasing their own property, 26.5 per cent said it was the initial deposit, 16.1 per cent said it was the monthly payment and 14.3 per cent cited the payment of the interest amount.
Housing Authority CEO Leonid McKay said that the study confirmed that theory that the issues faced by those searching for social housing would not disappear by handing them the keys to a house, but needed a multidisciplinary approach to help applicants.
“Many housing problems are not inherently housing problems, but also problems related to lack of income, health, addiction and so on. We need to view this as a wide spectrum of issues, and if we don’t, success in helping applicants become self-sufficient will be limited,” he said.