Debate contribution: Homelessness: South Down

Debate contribution by Ms Diane Forsythe on 22 October 2024.

MLA

Ms Diane Forsythe

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

22 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Homelessness: South Down

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4608631

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank my constituency colleague Andrew McMurray for securing the debate this evening. We know that becoming homeless can happen to anyone. Over 48,000 are now on the waiting list for social housing in Northern Ireland, with 8,452 presenting as homeless in the most recent reporting period, October 2023 to March 2024. It really is such a significant issue in Northern Ireland, and it is good to speak about it in the House this evening. Homelessness is widely misunderstood. Many just understand it as looking around and seeing people living on the streets, and the real challenge that we face is explaining and raising awareness of what it really means. The definition of "homeless" includes people staying with friends and families, those staying in hostels, rough sleepers and those living in homes that are unsuitable for them. In rural areas such as South Down, homelessness looks very different from what it looks like in urban areas. Rural homelessness is an unseen crisis in the countryside, driven by limited access to services and an absence of affordable homes. Rising rural homelessness is an inevitable impact of housing shortages. The extent of the crisis is unclear as limited rural data is captured in many official statistics. The figures show that homelessness has increased overall in the last decade, and, while interventions have helped in urban areas, their impact is less successful in rural communities. I would like to hear the Minister's assessment of the specific challenges regarding homelessness in rural areas. The recent publication of the Budget this year paints a bleak picture, with only 400 new-start social homes to be built. The Housing Executive has made its case and has told the Communities Minister that it needs £20 million to more fully fund the homelessness fund. The crisis is real, and we are all well versed in the financial pressures that we face. I appreciate that the Minister is under pressure, but we need to keep being well versed in the issue and raise awareness. The issue of temporary housing is significant and is acutely felt in South Down, with it being one of the most common things raised in my office when it comes to housing issues. Hotels, vacant homes and flats in rural areas of South Down have increasingly been used for temporary accommodation for people from outside the area, which, with the lack of communication, has caused significant disruption and misunderstanding about what is happening in quiet country towns. The constant turnover of people and the lack of consultation with the community, local police, elected representatives, the Housing Executive and some housing associations has resulted in a lot of local crisis, public meetings and interventions. In the absence of permanent housing solutions, I recognise the need for the temporary accommodation, but I ask the Minister to please provide some clear guidance to housing bodies to enter improved communication to communities with relevant stakeholders moving forward. Another issue that is repeatedly being raised with me with regard to temporary accommodation, where people are moving in and out of areas, is children being moved in and out of schools, the change of school environment and the lack of transport. With temporary accommodation often lasting for significant periods, there is a lot of difficulty and communication barriers, and I ask that officials in the Education Authority (EA) and the Department for Communities work more closely to avoid disruption for those children. The absence of information on homelessness by constituency or town reduces the transparency on where some of the issues lie, especially in areas like South Down, where our data being published is for the Newry, Mourne and Down district. As Andrew outlined, that demonstrates significant issues and movements, but the transparency around what it means for rural communities is hard to pull out of that data, as issues are often skewed by the bigger towns and the city of Newry in the reported figures. To really grasp the issues in those rural areas, we need to reflect on how we capture the data and report it. Where the housing supply is limited and when any funding is awarded in South Down, we face an additional challenge. If and when the budget is awarded, Newry, Mourne and Down council's planning system is one of the slowest in the country and has the longest waiting lists, with it being some two and a half years before many cases are even looked at. That is a potential additional crisis, if funding becomes available. I ask the Minister if there are plans for his Department to work with councils to expedite planning when any new proposed social housing may become available for the district. I return to the point that I made at the start: anyone can become homeless. Many people who are deemed homeless do not even consider themselves to be. Many people come to my office facing a variety of issues — health crises, family issues and addiction management — and, often, they are moving between locations. They move between friends and families, staying in spare rooms and sofa-surfing. I struggle to help them when they do not accept that they are deemed to be homeless. When they can accept that and present as homeless, their journey to the support that they need can be navigated. However, there needs to be increased awareness of hidden homelessness and what it really means for people. I ask the Department for Communities to commit to providing information on and increasing awareness of hidden homelessness. As an elected representative, I will be happy to promote anything on that that I can in the constituency. The work of the voluntary and community sector in this space is invaluable in South Down, given that, as with many services, things are centralised to the cities and larger towns. I recognise the work of the churches and, as Andy mentioned, the Simon Community and our County Down Rural Community Network. Those organisations are invaluable in providing support for and raising awareness among people in our community when needed. I fully realise that the Minister is under immense budgetary pressure. I appreciate the opportunity to raise with him in the Chamber some of the issues facing us with regard to homelessness in South Down.

1,043 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:28 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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