THE amount of money spent by the Housing Executive in putting up people in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation has increased by more than 60 per cent in the last two years.
In 2015/16, £319,115 was spent by the department on 'emergency non-standard accommodation', compared to £196,789 the previous year – a jump of 62 per cent.
This expenditure equated to a total of 618 external placements, an increase of 34 per cent from the previous year's 462.
This information was disclosed to The Irish News in a freedom of information request.
Accommodation of this type is required in cases were immediate relocation of individuals or families is required and more permanent premises are not available, such as cases where people present themselves as homeless to the Housing Executive due to paramilitary intimidation.
In November, The Irish News revealed 433 people presented themselves to the Housing Executive as homeless because of paramilitary threat in 2015/16.
Of those, 325 cases were accepted by the housing body as being sufficiently serious enough to require permanent relocation.
There is currently a severe shortage of social housing in the north, however the construction of 1600 units is also set to break ground in the coming months, with the aim of building 9,600 units by 2021.
The Department for Communities (DfC) has also said it is planning to invest £35 million into homelessness services this year.
There are currently 16,000 people classified as homeless by the Housing Executive waiting on social housing lists.
The current average waiting time for social housing in the north was, as of September 30 last year, 37 weeks. This figure has gradually increased over the last three years. The average waiting time in parts of Belfast was as much as 46 weeks.
In response to the figures, a DfC spokesperson said the the Housing Executive's new draft strategy for tackling homelessness is currently out on consultation and it "sets out a renewed focus, prioritising the need to find suitable accommodation and importantly on preventing homelessness."
The Housing Executive said that, while expenditure for non-standard temporary accommodation has increased dramatically, the amount spent on standard accommodation such as hostels and shelters has only risen slightly.
Stormont is also set to receive an extra £176.4m over the next four years from Westminster following a £3 billion Home Building Fund announced for England last year by the Conservative government.
However, this funding is not ring-fenced, leading the SDLP to express concerns that, instead of going towards social housing, the windfall from Westminster could instead be used to plug the £490m RHI black hole.
