On Thursday 14 March 2024, the Department for Communities published the latest edition of its homelessness bulletin. This publication includes the latest statistics on homelessness in NI. The statistics continue to show a worsening picture, especially when it comes to the number of households finding themselves in need of temporary accommodation. Here are some of the key points that emerge:
Homelessness Presentations have risen on the same period last year
From July to December 2023, 8,183 households presented as homeless. This was an increase on the equivalent period in 2022 of 685 presentations or 9%. The three most common reasons for presentation were: accommodation not reasonable (2,056 households, up 16% on 2022); sharing breakdown/family dispute (1,829, up 12.6% on 2022); and loss of rented accommodation (1,412, down 5.3% on 2022).
One of the most notable trends around presentations is the number of households presenting due to lack of accommodation in Northern Ireland. At 722 households, this is the highest number of households recorded for this category in the data series. The number of households presenting for this reason in July to December 2023 has risen by 207 households or 40.2% since the equivalent period in 2022.
Another noteworthy trend relates to the rise in the number of households presenting to the Housing Executive with accommodation not reasonable due to financial hardship. 254 households were recorded as presenting for this reason, an increase of 159 households on the equivalent period in 2022. This is an increase of 167.4%.
Homelessness presentations have increased across all household types in July to December 2023 when compared with the same period the previous year.
The Belfast Local Council area has proportionally the highest rate of homelessness presentations
The three council areas with the highest number of presenters per 1000 population were: Belfast with 7.0 presenters per 1000 (2,425 presentations in total); Derry and Strabane with 6.4 presenters per 1000 (964 presenters); and Antrim and Newtownabbey with 4.6 presenters per 1000 (678). The average across Northern Ireland as a whole was 4.3 presenters per 1000 population.
Homelessness Acceptances have risen on last year
The number of households accepted as homeless during July to December 2023 rose to 5,316, a rise of 456 acceptances or 9.4% on the equivalent period in 2022.
In terms of reason for acceptance, accommodation not reasonable remains the most cited reason (1,638 households, up 170 or 11.6% on the same period the year before) followed by sharing breakdown/family dispute (981, up 13.5%) and loss of private rented accommodation (791 households, down 1.9%).
From July to December 2023, 1,196 households who presented to the Housing Executive were deemed not to have homelessness status following assessment under the legal tests set out in the 1988 Housing (NI) Order. This compared to 1374 households in the same period in 2022, a fall of 178 households (13%). The main reasons for applications being rejected were due to households being found not to be in priority need (598 households) or being found not to be homeless (477).
The number of households in temporary accommodation has increased by 121% over the last five years
In January 2024, 4,556 households were living in temporary accommodation in NI. In January 2023, 3945 households were living in temporary accommodation while five years ago, in January 2019, 2,065 households were living in this kind of accommodation. There has been an increase of 15.5% in the number of households in temporary accommodation in one year and an increase of 121% over the last five years.
The number of children living in temporary accommodation has increased by 99% over the last five years
Accompanying this rise in the number of households is an increase in the number of children living in temporary accommodation. Over the last five years, there has been a 99% increase in the number of children living in temporary accommodation from 2,433 in January 2019 to 4,844. In January 2024, 3,144 of these children were aged nine and under. 482 were aged under one year.
You can read Homeless Connect’s response to the latest statistics here.
Full figures available on the Department for Communities website
