Debate contribution: Homelessness: South Down

Debate contribution by Mr Colin McGrath on 22 October 2024.

MLA

Mr Colin McGrath

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

22 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Homelessness: South Down

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4608633

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank our constituency colleague Andy McMurray for bringing the Adjournment debate to the House. Regardless of whether people are in South Down or South Antrim, the issue of homelessness has relevance, and, sadly, it does not appear to be getting any easier. All of us here will have been contacted in our constituency offices by people who are crying out for a home that they can call their own. We represent them as best we can, work alongside officials in the Housing Executive and ensure that they get every support possible through agencies such as Housing Rights, yet, time and again, we hear that people's points just are not enough for them to be allocated a property. That is a cause of frustration for us and for the individuals who contact the offices. I have no doubt that it is also a cause of frustration for the Housing Executive, the social housing organisations and, indeed, the Minister. We continue to find ourselves in the midst of a housing emergency in which demand outstrips the supply of social housing, so much so that, just last week, the SDLP secured a commitment from the House to recognise that housing emergency. It is our hope that action will follow from that. The action that we need is for the 47,000-plus people who are on the Housing Executive's waiting list. In our constituency, there are well in excess of 3,000 applicants in housing stress, more than 1,000 applicants who are homeless and more than 750 people who are on full-duty status. Whether they are from the 'Point, Downpatrick or the rural areas around the Mournes, we have far too many people and families who face homelessness or are homeless already. We all know that those are not just statistics and that there are people, often with families, behind the numbers. Being unable to have a home to call your own causes disruption for families. Being forced to move into temporary accommodation and hostels can often bring an unwarranted stigma. It can also cause issues in education, as Diane Forsythe referenced, when families are moved about and children have to move from school to school or are so far from their school that they face long journeys each day. If we are to address homelessness, we really need to address rising rent costs. They are spiralling out of control, with Housing Executive rent prices in parts of South Down the second highest across the North. The local housing allowance for people in those parts of South Down does not meet the rent price. I ask the Minister this question: what more can the Executive do to look at the lived reality of those who find themselves in housing stress, having to make an application for social housing and suddenly realising that they can no longer afford to live in an area that has been their home for so many years? What hope can the Executive offer the people in South Down and across the North who are homeless?

As one of my constituents reflected to me about the process:

"I am tired moving on. It is soul-destroying because you have nothing to look forward to. Family can only do so much, but it does not help you to get a home."

The homeless people who I know in South Down, who passionately care about their area, do not need another strategy. They need action that will get them a home, and they cannot wait any longer. When will the Executive start delivering homes for people in South Down? When will the Executive stop letting people down?

Homelessness and poverty go hand in hand. We must get serious about combating poverty as well. Poverty is, after all, a political choice, and we need our Executive to finally choose a course of action that will not leave people in poverty but will give them the best possible start in life, beginning with a home to call their own. To the Northern Ireland Executive, the people of South Down will undoubtedly say about homelessness and poverty, "Are you going to do something about it? Can you just get on with it?".

694 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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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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