On 24 September, Grainia Long, the Chief Executive of the Housing Executive, briefed the All Party Group on Homelessness. In her presentation, Ms Long outlined the major challenges this society is facing when it comes to homelessness as well as some of the steps the Housing Executive are taking to support people in housing need. Here are some of the key takeaways from the session.

1. The level of need for housing support remains high

At the outset of her presentation, Ms Long indicated that in some parts of Northern Ireland there has been a significant increase in the number of households presenting as homeless. She pointed out in the Belfast City Council area, a rise of 7.3% in one year. She noted that calls to the Housing Executive out-of-hours service have increased from 754 calls in 2019-20 to over 11,000 in 2023/4.

in terms of temporary accommodation, she reflected that in some parts of NI that NIHE may have reached ‘saturation point’ when it comes to the ability to procure additional properties from the private sector to serve as temporary accommodation. She outlined that this is one of the factors which has led to households being placed outside of an area of choice for the household.

Ms Long was clear that the Housing Executive strive to provide suitable properties for households in the right place to ensure the best outcome for the household concerned in terms of education and health. However, in some cases this can be prove highly challenging due to the level of need out there.

The level of need for temporary accommodation has been such that the Housing Executive continues to be reliant on the use of B&B and hotel accommodation. She noted that Belfast has 51% of all non-standard placements currently at 242. The amount of money spent on non-standard temporary accommodation has increased from £1.9 million in 2019/20 to £12.2 million in 2023/4. This is placing major pressure on Housing Executive budgets. Ms Long further noted that the Housing Executive have been undertaking unannounced inspections of ‘non-standard’ accommodation since August to ensure that the properties are of a suitable quality for households.

The Housing Executive currently has a target of not placing children in hotels and B&Bs other than in exceptional circumstances and when this occurs, for the placement to not last more than 14 days. Unfortunately, the current average length of stay in Belfast for families in non-standard accommodation stands at 21 days while in the northwest it stands at 65 days.

2. NI is not building enough social housing

Ms Long was clear that it is vital that Northern Ireland gets to a place where we are building at least 2000 social homes every year. She noted that in 2024/5, the Department for Communities has only provided enough funding for up to 600 new starts for social housing while in 2023/4 only around 1500 new starts were possible. Investment in building more social housing would help to relieve pressure on the temporary accommodation system and Ms Long was clear that this needs to be a focus for funding going forward.

3. The homelessness sector faces major funding pressures

Ms Long reflected that the Housing Executive faces significant funding pressures. In her discussion of the out-of-hours service, she noted that it is currently operating at risk and funding has not been secured for it up to the end of the year. The same applied to other homelessness projects including ‘Complex Lives‘ in Belfast. She further noted that the point at which funding decisions have to be made regarding funding for some homelessness sector organisations going forward is ‘imminent’.

Ms Long was keen to stress how much she valued the vital work of the homelessness sector and that she understood the challenges the uncertainty around funding is having for organisations who are, as the APG Chair Ciara Ferguson MLA pointed out, sometimes operating with only month to month funding guarantees.

Even amidst all of the difficulties raised during the session, Ms Long finished by pointing to some positive developments when it comes to housing and homelessness. She referred to the inclusion of a housing priority in the Programme for Government with a focus on children leaving care as well as movement on the Housing Executive potentially being able to borrow to build homes again.

The next meeting of the All Party Group on Homelessness will be in December.