Debate contribution: Housing (Amendment) Bill: Extension of Committee Stage
Debate contribution by Ms Kellie Armstrong on .
- MLA
- Ms Kellie Armstrong
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 6 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Committee Business
- Heading
- Housing (Amendment) Bill: Extension of Committee Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5776588
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I beg to move
On behalf of the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Communities, I seek the support of the House for the motion to extend the Committee Stage of the Housing (Amendment) Bill until 11 December 2026. The Bill was introduced on 30 June by Colm Gildernew MLA and completed its Second Stage on 21 September, when it was referred to the Committee for Communities. The Committee's call for evidence ended on 3 September, after being agreed at our meeting on 2 July. At that same meeting, the Committee received a briefing from the sponsor, and, last week, it received briefings on the Bill from researchers from the Assembly's Research and Information Service (RaISe). At Second Stage, I indicated that, throughout this mandate, the Committee has maintained a strong focus on housing need, temporary accommodation, homelessness prevention and the services that support people who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless, and that the Committee is acutely aware of the significant challenges associated with homelessness in Northern Ireland and the profound impact that housing insecurity can have on individuals, families and communities. On 30 June 2026, the total number of households on the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's waiting list with no existing Housing Executive or housing association tenancy at was 50,891, comprising 92,700 individuals. Of those, 39,617 households, comprising 73,223 individuals, were in housing stress, and 34,091 households, comprising 64,417 individuals, had full-duty application status, meaning that they are considered to be statutorily homeless. The principle of intervening earlier to prevent homelessness is a policy intention of the Bill. The Bill proposes to amend the definition of "threatened with homelessness" in the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 to place a duty on the Housing Executive to provide support for people who:
"will become homeless within 60 days"
That replaces the duty to provide support for those who:
"will become homeless within 28 days".
It is the sponsor's view that that will reduce the likelihood of people becoming homeless and increase the likelihood of them being able to stay in their current home, where interventions are successful, rather than them having to rely on temporary accommodation. The cost of temporary accommodation to the Housing Executive in 2023-24 was almost £39 million, and there was a £31 million increase in temporary accommodation expenditure between 2018-19 and 2023-24. Any increase or decrease in that spend raises important questions that warrant our full examination. Themes and discussions so far demonstrate that there are a number of areas that merit detailed consideration. Those include whether the proposed 60-day period represents the appropriate point for statutory intervention; the likely operational implications for the Housing Executive and potential financial consequences; the interaction between earlier intervention and potential pressures on temporary accommodation and existing housing supply; and whether provision should be made for the operation of the legislation to be reviewed after implementation. Those, and the potential positive implications that the Bill may have for homelessness, as well as how the Bill may interact with any future homelessness commission, which was announced recently by the Minister for Communities, are why it is important that the Committee Stage provides sufficient time for effective scrutiny. The Committee must consider the submissions that it has received, identify matters that require further examination and hear oral evidence from relevant stakeholders. For example, we are yet to hear from people with lived experience of homelessness, organisations providing homelessness and housing support services, the Housing Executive, relevant professional and representative organisations, and other stakeholders with experience in this area. We must then consider that evidence collectively; return to the Bill sponsor, the Department and the Housing Executive where clarification is required; consider any potential amendments; undertake formal clause-by-clause scrutiny; and agree our report and commend it to the Assembly. As with many other Committees, the Communities Committee has an extensive programme of legislative and wider scrutiny work ahead of it this season. The proposed extension will allow the Committee to carry out those responsibilities alongside robust scrutiny of the Bill. It is important to say that the Committee has no interest in delaying the Bill unnecessarily and is acutely aware that the end of the mandate is fast approaching. If we are in a position to conclude our scrutiny and report to the Assembly before 11 December, having been satisfied that key issues have been examined effectively, we will do so. The purpose of the motion is to provide the Committee with the necessary flexibility to do its job thoroughly and ensure that the legislation that returns to the House has benefited from robust and evidence-based scrutiny. The Committee wants to ensure that the Bill achieves the correct balance between effectiveness and practicality and, ultimately, that it works for the people whom it is intended to support. For those reasons, on behalf of the Committee for Communities I ask Members to support the extension of the Committee Stage of the Housing (Amendment) Bill until 11 December 2026.
827 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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