Executive seeks more money as homelessness rises

Growing pressure on its homelessness budget means the Housing Executive does not have enough money for long-term solutions, its chief executive says.

Earlier this week, BBC News NI spent 24 hours with a charity on the frontline of homelessness in Belfast.

Speaking to BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster on Friday, Housing Executive chief executive Grainia Long said the executive now has 11,000 placements in temporary accommodation, compared to 3,000 before the Covid pandemic.

Its homelessness budget has grown from £12m in 2019/20 to £33m last year.

"We think we’re going to need somewhere round about between £42m and £44m this year," Ms Long said.

"So what’s happening in front of our eyes is that the growth in demand for temporary accommodation is taking all of the resource.

"I've often said it's bittersweet, to be in a position where your budget increases - great - but the budget is being spent on the wrong thing."

She said the Executive had a legal duty to meet the demand for temporary accommodation, but that means the money is not going towards prevention services that have been underfunded for years.

She added: "The long-term solution to this is we need to build social housing at scale."

Five people have died on the streets of Belfast since charity the Welcome Organisation was forced to close its headquarters after an arson attack.

A car was rammed into the shutters of the Welcome Organisation's Townsend Street centre on 23 July before being set on fire.

Threatening graffiti was then sprayed on a wall warning workers they would be shot if they repaired the west Belfast building.

Why are people struggling in NI?

Ms Long said there had been three phases since the pandemic that have driven the growth in demand for temporary accommodation.

Firstly, during the pandemic people living in informal arrangements such as sofa surfing had to move out.

After the pandemic, due to the economic impact, many people lost their private rented tenancies.

She said the third reason was the growth in the number of people arriving in Northern Ireland.

The Welcome Organisation works to help the homeless

In a statement, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said: “Collectively, work is ongoing to deal with both the long-term underlying causes of homelessness and those people who find themselves in immediate crisis.

"This is a daunting task, made more difficult by the criminal attack on the Welcome Organisation, which disrupted their vital services.

“The attack also puts greater strain on public finances at a time when funds are scarce.

"However, my officials will continue to work with the Housing Executive, and wider stakeholder community, to ensure resources are directed to those most in need."

Grainia Long said the situation was "very, very serious"

Ms Long said the Housing Executive had previously warned that it expects "more visible signs of homelessness on the streets and we think that there is a risk of deaths".

She added: "It is very, very serious if we are in a position where we cannot fund those services.

"I have met with the minister last week, I met with the permanent secretary this week, I know that they are working very, very closely to find solutions.

"They have all the numbers for us, we have been very, very clear £20m is what we need to fully fund the homelessness fund, plus prevention, plus some additional services.

"Currently I haven’t been allocated that."