A local housing charity prevented 166 people – including 75 children – from entering homelessness in Galway in the second quarter of this year.

Threshold confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that it prevented a total of 77 households in the city and county from entering homelessness during April, May and June of 2023.

This included 30 adults and 29 children in County Galway, and a further 61 adults and 46 children in Galway City.

During that period, Threshold advisors worked on a total of 325 cases from tenants in County Galway and 439 cases from tenants in the city.

Tenancy terminations “remained a high concern for renters” in the city and county, a spokesperson said. Some 34% of all queries from tenants in the county related to terminations, while it accounted for one in four of all cases in the city.

Threshold CEO John-Mark McCafferty said: “We are continuing to see a high volume of private renters seeking support across a range of issues, but concerns surrounding termination of tenancies remain the key challenge facing tenants.

“We saw a slight reduction in the number of households that were prevented from entering homelessness this quarter compared to the first quarter of this year. This is a result of client cases lasting for a longer time period due to their complexity, meaning that we are not closing as many cases as was previously seen.”

Rent reviews and increases accounted for 14% of all queries in County Galway, and 21% of queries in the city. Some 13% of queries in both the city and county concerned general tenancy termination procedures.

Five households in the county and 23 in the city contacted Threshold relating to problems with the landlord retaining their deposit, the figures show.

Nationally, the charity said there was an increase in the number of renters seeking support regarding the retention of their rental deposit.

It launched new campaign calling on the establishment of a Deposit Protection Scheme to protect renters from having their rental deposit unfairly retained by landlords.

Threshold wants a custodial model, where a landlord is required to lodge a deposit with a registered tenancy deposit scheme.

At the end of the tenancy, the tenant or landlord can apply to the scheme for the deposit to be returned. If both the tenant and landlord agree, the deposit is returned in part or in full.

If there is a disagreement, mediation is held to resolve the matter, with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) becoming involved if disagreement persists.

“A Deposit Protection Scheme is very much needed to ensure a quick and fair return of deposits to a tenant once they finish their tenancy,” Mr McCarthy said.