Member's statement: Supported Living Accommodation: Inspire Wellbeing
Member's statement by Miss Órlaithí Flynn on .
- MLA
- Miss Órlaithí Flynn
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 22 September 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Supported Living Accommodation: Inspire Wellbeing
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5739082
Read the official Assembly record
Text
It is my privilege to highlight the invaluable work of Inspire Wellbeing and the important role that supported accommodation plays in helping people to live well and independently in our communities. Inspire provides a wide range of services for people experiencing mental ill health, addictions, intellectual disabilities and autism. It provides practical, person-centred support at different stages of people's lives. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Inspire's Altigarron Court service in west Belfast and, most important, of meeting some of the people who call it "home". It was brilliant to hear from the residents about what living there means to them. It means having their own home and independence, being part of their community and knowing that support is there when they need it. The exceptional work that is carried out by the staff and the positive relationships that they have built up with the residents were clear to see. The staff's support plays an important role in empowering people to live independently with dignity and confidence. That demonstrates what supported accommodation can achieve for people. It is about much more than providing a roof over someone's head: with the right home and the right support, people can improve their well-being, live in recovery and live fulfilling lives in their communities. Supported accommodation benefits the wider health service, too, as it can and will help people to remain in their community, avoid unnecessary stays in hospitals, deliver better outcomes for those individuals and reduce pressure on our health service, which will ultimately deliver savings to the public purse. That is particularly important as we look towards reforming our health service and there is talk about shifting more care into the community. Supported accommodation should be recognised as a key enabler of that shift. Figures that I received in response to a recent question for written answer showed that there were 8,446 new social housing starts between 2021 and 2026 but just eight out of those almost 8,500 homes were categorised as supported housing for mental health needs. Of those, only two, including Altigarron Court, were new builds, whereas the other six were just improvements. That is only two out of almost 8,500 new builds spanning the years since 2021.
There is a real opportunity to build on the excellent services that are already being delivered to ensure that supported accommodation is recognised as a key part of our future health and social care system. I finish by thanking the staff at Inspire Wellbeing for the work that they do every day with the people who live in their community and in supported living. I thank particularly the residents of Altigarron Court for welcoming me into their home and sharing their experiences with me.
454 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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