ONE IN FIVE people in Ireland are living below the poverty line after their housing costs are factored in, according to a study from think-tank Social Justice Ireland.

The study estimates that the “real” number of people living in poverty here is 952,185, or just under 20% of the population, as the poverty rate when housing costs were excluded was 11.6%.

Some 41.6% of renters are at risk of poverty after housing payments, the study found. For households in receipt of rent subsidies, the poverty rate after rent payments is 59.1%.

The report, titled Housing Costs and Poverty 2022, analyses the impact of housing costs – mortgage interest and rent – on the poverty rates of various household types in 2021.

It also used data from the Central Statistics Office to determine where the poverty line was in Ireland last year. Weekly social assistance payments for single people, for example, were €83.51 below the poverty line, it said.

It also found that the urban-rural poverty gap widened last year: “Rural Ireland faces significant challenges in the areas of job creation and service provision for an ageing population.”

Social Justice Ireland said the country is experiencing an “affordability crisis”. Colette Bennett, an Economic and Social Analyst at the think tank, said that “far from supporting families out of poverty, housing subsidies are so inadequate as to be allowing greater numbers into it.

“One in five tenants in the private rented sector are subsidised through the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP); that does not include tenants in the Rental Accommodation Scheme or those on Rent Supplement. Yet despite huge Government spending on these subsidies, the need for additional rent payments, or ‘top ups’ are driving increases in poverty.

“It is essential that Government increase spending on actually building social homes instead of relying on and subsidising a dysfunctional private rented sector.”

The report also detailed the issue of poverty risk among retirees. It said: “As housing becomes increasingly unaffordable, and the number of people renting into older age increases, it is important that adequate income is assured post-retirement.”

Social Justice Ireland has proposed an equity scheme for long-term mortgage arrears which would see the government pay the equity amount directly to the mortgage lender, decreasing the amount owed by the borrower.