Housing Bulletin Published
This morning, the Department for Communities published the latest edition of its Housing Bulletin for April to June 2026. For the first time in its official statistics, the Department of Communities has now published both the number of individuals on the social housing waiting list with homelessness status as well as the number of households they come from.
The data shows that homelessness in Northern Ireland continues to rise, with more than 64,000 individuals now recorded as experiencing homelessness and over 34,000 households with homelessness status.
The latest data highlights the continued growth in homelessness over the past decade, with the number of households affected having more than doubled during that period. The Housing Bulletin also shows that the overall social housing waiting list remains at historically high levels, underlining the scale of housing need across Northern Ireland.
The Housing Bulletin also shows that the overall social housing waiting list remains at historically high levels, reflecting the scale of housing need across Northern Ireland.
The number of allocations to new applicants for social housing remains below the level required to meaningfully reduce the backlog of housing need.
Commenting on the figures, Nicola McCrudden, Chief Executive of Homeless Connect, said:
“These figures should be a stark warning about the scale of homelessness in Northern Ireland. For the first time in the Department’s official statistics, we can see not only the number of households affected by homelessness, but the number of people behind those statistics. Those figures show that more than 64,000 people are now experiencing homelessness across Northern Ireland.
For many years, households have been the main measure used to understand homelessness. Today’s figures remind us that behind every household statistic are real people, and that homelessness is affecting tens of thousands of individuals across Northern Ireland.
When you consider that number is equivalent to filling the Odyssey Arena more than five and a half times over, it becomes clear just how widespread homelessness has become and how many lives are being affected
At the same time as homelessness continues to rise, the organisations providing frontline support are facing an escalating funding crisis. Homelessness charities are working harder than ever to support people in need, but many services are struggling to cope with increasing pressures while operating in an environment of short-term and inadequate funding.
Services cannot continue to plan, recruit and deliver effectively when funding is provided on a short-term basis and without certainty about the future. The reality is that some organisations are having to make impossible decisions about staffing levels, service capacity and the support they can offer to people experiencing homelessness.
If we are serious about tackling homelessness, government must match its ambitions with sustainable investment. That means funding homelessness services appropriately, providing organisations with long-term certainty, and ensuring they have the resources necessary to respond to growing need.
Alongside this, we must continue to increase the supply of social and affordable housing and strengthen prevention measures so that fewer people reach the point of homelessness in the first place. Without urgent action, both the housing crisis and the pressure on homelessness services will continue to deepen.”
