In a house on Dame Street, 18 people are living under one roof in 21st-century Dublin. Some of them are frontline workers and since the coronavirus pandemic started it was inevitable that if one person in the house got infected, everyone else would.
ight people in the house share one bathroom and there are up to four people in some of the bedrooms.
Pratheeksha Naveena (27) lived there for six months last year. She came across an advert for the property on Facebook and because the rent was only €350 each month, it made sense for a young student living in one of the most expensive cities in Europe.
“People in the house were working in restaurants and hospitals and we didn’t like talking about the virus at the start as we knew we were high risk and everyone could end up getting it, it was kind of scary,” she told the Irish Independent.
In 2018, researchers from Trinity College Dublin mapped out the residential addresses of those who fell victim to the Spanish Flu in the capital during the 1918 influenza pandemic.
Many lived in Dublin’s tenements, which were a breeding ground for infection as dozens of families were crammed into one building, often eating, sleeping and washing in the same room.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed how limited affordable housing options in Dublin city is still compromising people’s health more than 100 years later, with students and low-income workers forced to resort to crowded rentals.
Ms Naveena knew she had to leave the house on Dame Street but finding alternative accommodation during a global crisis wasn’t easy.
She now lives in a two-bed apartment with three other tenants, with two in each room.
Her housemate recently contracted Covid-19 and for two weeks, “life was like hell”.
“We were all locked inside, we couldn’t go outside for a jog, we had to wear masks around the house and it was really difficult to get groceries as ordering online is much more expensive and as our rent is €500 each it is hard.
“There is only one bathroom too. Two of us are relatively new to the city and don’t have a lot of friends so we couldn’t ask anyone to drop things over.”
Ms Naveena, originally from India, is studying data analytics at Dublin Institute of Technology. She worries it may be another year before she sees her family.
“With restrictions I can’t go, tickets are also very expensive and with the quarantine period needed, I can’t afford it, so I don’t know when I will get home again.”
Kennethy Souza, also 27, moved to Ireland from Brazil five years ago and was sharing a house with up to eight people at the start of the pandemic.
He moved to another house last August that he shared with six people, but moved out after Christmas because there was a problem with mould in his bedroom.
“My past experience of sharing houses was good for helping me learn English but you have no privacy, you can’t get a shower whenever you want, you can’t cook whenever you want, and sometimes you have to stay in your room if someone wants alone time with their partner,” Mr Souza said.
The interior design student said the pandemic had “been one of the worst experiences of my life”.
In his old house, a tenant contracted Covid and had to be confined to the living room.
For two weeks Mr Souza and his housemates couldn’t use the living room and because there was only one shower in the house, “life was difficult”.
“We were making food for him and leaving it on the table or outside. It was awful.
“We had two bathrooms but just one of them had a shower, the other one was only for washing your face, hands and brushing your teeth. We had to make a schedule for the shower and disinfect it a lot.”
In December, Mr Souza also tested positive for Covid. “I picked up a headache and thought it was normal flu, but then I realised that I couldn’t smell and taste. I contacted my GP and he booked a test and I had to quarantine for two weeks. It was not nice.”
He recently moved to another house on North Circular Road, which he shares with three other people. He has his own bedroom and therefore is paying a higher rent of €500 each month, before bills.
“It is a bigger space so it is much better and I am much happier,” he said.
Housing charity Threshold said house sharing arrangements have proven problematic during the pandemic. Many renters have sought advice about their rights in the last year, with some concerned about housemates flouting regulations.
They were recently contacted by a nurse living with a number of other tenants.
One of her housemates travelled abroad on at least two occasions during the latest lockdown.
“On the first occasion our client had to wait two weeks before she could return to work on the wards,” a Threshold spokesperson said.
“On the second occasion her housemate indicated that he intended to return and quarantine in the house they all shared. Initially our client’s landlord did not want to get involved in what he perceived to be an inter-tenant dispute.
However, acting on Threshold’s advice, the landlord agreed to intervene and the housemate made alternative arrangements to self-isolate on his return from overseas.”
In another case, a tenant moved in with a friend under the impression that the number of people in the house would be limited to three people.
When the woman, who is a frontline worker, moved in, the landlord hired a property manager who informed the tenants of their intention to convert two rooms into bedrooms to try to accommodate more people.
One of the rooms due to be converted is a utility room.
“Worried about the lack of space and the prospect of additional people moving in during the Level 5 restrictions she contacted Threshold for advice and support. We have advised that the conversion of additional rooms under current restrictions does not constitute essential work.”
