This morning at the Assembly the Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons MLA made a statement announcing the removal of intimidation points from the Social Housing Selection Scheme.
Responding to the announcement, Nicola McCrudden, CEO of Homeless Connect said:
“While the number of intimidation cases reported to the Housing Executive have been falling in recent years, it is a tragic reality that people are still being forced to leave their homes through acts of intimidation. It is appropriate for the social housing selection scheme to consider the impact of intimidation when prioritising allocations. However, the current system is not fully inclusive and, for example, fails to account for the impact of domestic abuse or human trafficking situations.
It has been our view for some time that reform of the system is needed. Homeless Connect has been part of a group considering the fundamental review of housing allocations and took part in research relating to intimidation points, where there was a general consensus around removal of the points.”
Ms McCrudden continued: “However, we are mindful that any change to the housing selection scheme will have knock-on effects elsewhere in the system. With the removal of intimidation points, care will be needed to ensure that homelessness caused by violence or threats of violence is properly acknowledged within the allocations system.
Homeless Connect will be bringing the voices of people with lived experience of homelessness to the fore in consideration of the next steps in this area. We look forward to engaging with the Department and the Housing Executive as they go forward in this process of reform.”