Housing Rights Service is committed to improving the situation for people who are homeless. We are working towards long term solutions to stop homelessness happening in the first place. Through our legal advice and policy work we aim to secure positive changes to policy, legislation and practice to protect homeless people and to prevent homelessness occurring.

What is homelessness?
What is being done to tackle homelessness?
What does Housing Rights Service want to see happen?
Key homelessness statistics

What is homelessness?

Homelessness means not having a home. You don't have to be living on the streets to be homeless. Even if someone has a roof over their head they can still be homeless. This may be because their home is unsuitable or they don't have any rights to stay there. People become homeless for a number of different reasons for example

• breakdown in sharing arrangements
• being evicted by a landlord
• job loss
• health problems
• relationship problems
• harassment by neighbours

What is being done to tackle homelessness?

The Department for Social Development is leading a group to take forward the Promoting Social Inclusion strategy called “Including the Homeless”.  This contains many recommendations and an action plan. It includes plans to introduce new legislation to strengthen the rights of homeless people and a requirement for the Housing Executive to produce a strategy every 5 years to tackle homelessness.

What does Housing Rights Service want to see happen?

Housing Rights Service wants to see the right to housing included in a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. We are also calling for a speedier implementation of the Promoting Social Inclusion Strategy “Including the Homeless", new homelessness legislation and more focus on providing quality housing advice to help prevent homelessness. Full details of what we believe is needed to tackle homelessness are available for download.

Key homelessness statistics

• In 2007/08, 19,030 households presented as homeless to the NI Housing Executive.
• 9,234 (48%) of the households met the legislative criteria and were awarded homelessness status. 
• Between 2000/01 and 2007/08 there has been an increase of 50% in the numbers of households presenting as homeless.
• The largest group presenting as homeless was single people who made up almost 50% of the total figure. 
• The major reason given for homelessness was sharing breakdown/family dispute.
• The number of households presenting due to loss of private rented accommodation has increased by 73% over the last five years.