A new law linking access to social housing support to residency status could lead to an increase in rough sleeping, a United Nations human rights expert has warned.The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), in a statement on Thursday, welcomed the “highly significant” intervention of Koldo Casla, who is UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.Casla wrote to the Government on August 6th raising human rights and equality concerns about the Housing and Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2026.Enacted on July 22nd, the legislation included provisions for additional requirements relating to residency in the State to be satisfied for someone to be eligible for social housing support.Casla expressed concern the legislation could result in entire households being denied social housing support because of the residency status of one household member.This, he warned, could have severe consequences for victims of trafficking, for people who have experienced domestic and gender-based violence, and for migrant communities and other vulnerable groups. Any laws or policies that reduced protection of the right to housing should be necessary and proportionate and involve meaningful engagement with people affected, Casla said.The measures, he said, must not be discriminatory and must ensure the rights of the most disadvantaged were not disproportionately affected.Casla said nationality and migration status were not, in themselves, sufficient grounds to exclude people from the enjoyment of their human rights and he said any differential treatment must be justified as necessary, reasonable and proportionate.He called on the Government to explain how restrictions on access to housing based on migration status complied with principles of legality, reasonableness, necessity, proportionality, transparency and impact assessment, including their effect on particularly vulnerable groups.Casla emphasised the need to take into account Ireland’s international human rights obligations.IHREC chief commissioner Liam Herrick said on Thursday that Casla’s intervention was “highly significant”.The commission, he said, had already raised serious concerns about the human rights and equality implications of the relevant provisions with Minister for Housing James Browne.Those concerns, Herrick said, included the “disproportionate” effects on people “already among the most vulnerable in our society, such as migrants, victims of trafficking and victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence”. “We now have an independent UN human rights expert raising significant concerns about the potential impact of the legislation on some of the people who are most vulnerable to homelessness and housing insecurity,” Herrick said.The key question posed to the Government by Casla was whether it had adequately considered the effect of this new law on people’s human rights, Herrick said. “This legislation must be judged not simply on whether it is legally permissible or whether it provides clarity to local authorities, but on its real-world impact on people’s ability to access housing and avoid homelessness,” he said.Casla has asked the Government to provide further information on the legislation and its human rights implications. Any response will be made available through the UN human rights reporting process.IRHEC expressed concern to Browne last June as the Act was being rushed through, limiting the ability of parliamentarians to analyse it and propose amendments and limiting IRHEC’s ability, as the national human rights and equality body, to make detailed observations on the legislation.After the Act was passed, Browne told the commission his department had considered its concerns and sought detailed legal advice from the office of the Attorney General. The Government was satisfied the legislation was compatible with the Constitution and with European and international law, he said.IHREC said it would continue to engage with the Minister on the application of the new law and will monitor its impact.