Housing Rights responds to Stormont Committee’s Homelessness Inquiry report
Belfast, 26 February: Housing Rights, Northern Ireland’s leading housing advice charity, today welcomed the publication of the NI Assembly Public Accounts Committee’s report following its inquiry into homelessness.
The Stormont Committee has recommended that the Department for Communities and the NI Housing Executive strengthen their efforts to prevent homelessness, including by bringing forward proposals that change the law, making it a requirement to act to prevent homelessness. Northern Ireland is currently the only part of the UK without such laws.
In June 2025, there were over 49,000 households on the social housing waiting list – 25% more than in 2015 when the total was just over 39,000. In this same period, the number of households on the list with homelessness status has more than doubled from 13,644 to 32,159 – a rise of 136%.
In welcoming the report, the charity’s Chief Executive, Kate McCauley said:
“In our written evidence to the Inquiry, we emphasised the importance of ensuring that our response to the homelessness crisis moves from reactive to proactive. Evidence from our services shows us that preventing homelessness is not only possible, but also that is in the best interests of people, families, society as a whole and of course- the public purse, because it saves money in the long term.”
“We welcome the Committee’s intervention to call on the Department to bring forward proposals to strengthen homelessness prevention by changing the law. Legal change is important, but to be truly effective, it must also change how government acts, how services are delivered and how decisions are made. It will be important to involve a range of stakeholders in this work, so that experts from across sectors can input to the process.”
Notes to Editors:
- About Housing Rights: Housing Rights is Northern Ireland’s leading housing advice charity. The organisation works across the entire housing market, assisting social renters, mortgage holders, private renters, and those experiencing homelessness.
- Housing Rights works to prevent homelessness through its advice and representation services. The charity assisted 13,162 households across Northern Ireland with over 67,000 housing issues last year and successfully prevented homelessness for 1,120 households.
- Housing Rights submitted written evidence to the NI Assembly Public Accounts Committee Inquiry in December 2025. This can be accessed at the following link: https://www.housingrights.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/policy-research/PAC%20Report.pdf
- Media Contact: For further information or to arrange an interview with Kate McCauley or the Head of Policy and Development, Jamie Miller, please contact Shruti – [email protected] or [email protected] You can also contact us on (028) 9024 5640 or +44 7512 203867.
