The Consultation

On May 15, the Department for Communities launched a consultation seeking views on the budget allocations the Department received for 2025/6. The consultation provides an opportunity for stakeholders to outline their views on the Minister’s initial proposed allocations.

Our Response

Homeless Connect made its submission to the consultation on Monday 30 June 2025. We are grateful to our members for their engagement in the development of this response.  Some of the key points include:

• Homeless Connect is deeply concerned about the budget allocations set out in the EQIA document. We believe that if this budget allocation is implemented, it is highly likely that the trend of rising numbers living in temporary accommodation and with homelessness status will continue in 2025/6. We acknowledge that the Minister for Communities views homelessness as a high priority and that he has taken some positive steps which will be of benefit to the sector here. This is particularly the case when it comes to the homelessness prevention funding and the highly welcome decision to stabilise funding for the 19 projects funded through the homelessness services budget.
• However, the inequity of treatment of charities in terms of support to address the negative impact of ENICs and NLWs according to funding stream is a clear and obvious inequality. This needs to be addressed. The failure of the Executive to fund an uplift to SP may have a raft of serious consequences for services. In some cases, services are on the brink of viability and who have been underfunded for decades. These include a deepening of the recruitment and retention crisis in the homelessness sector; increased reliance on agency and bank staff as well as lone working; negative impact on the quality of service provision which can be provided, especially for clients struggling with addictions or with their mental health; and potential for service reduction or even closures.
• Finally, while we know the Minister has prioritised social housing provision in his capital allocation, it is our view that the Executive as a whole has not. It is people experiencing homelessness and the sector which strives to support them who will bear the brunt of the failure to fund enough social housing new starts in 2025/6.

You can read our full response here.