WE are in the middle of a housing and homelessness crisis which has been in the making for many years.
The coronavirus pandemic and now the cost-of-living crisis have made what was already a challenging situation even worse.
At the end of September, around 44,500 households were on the social housing waiting list, an increase of 70 per cent compared with 2003. Around 54 per cent of these households have homelessness status, known as full duty applicants.
The number of households living in temporary accommodation has exploded since the arrival of Covid.
In January 2019, the number stood at just over 2,000 and by July 2022 this had risen to over 3,650 - an increase of 77 per cent. The level of need is such that the Housing Executive has increasingly had to resort to expensive hotel and B&B accommodation to house people.
I regularly hear staff working in homelessness saying that this is the worst situation they have seen in their careers. At this moment, it is very difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel.
It is against this backdrop that we are encouraging people to have the conversation as part of our locally organised annual Homelessness Awareness Week – running from December 5 to 11.
As the statistics starkly illustrate, this is a conversation we need to have urgently as a society.
Over the week, many of our homelessness services here will be organising activities to raise awareness. Of course, the situation we face would be even more dire if it was not for the vital work of these organisations and their staff.
The homelessness sector is a deeply committed one which seeks to build a more socially just society. It is made up of some of the most dedicated and talented people I have ever met.
However, the truth is that organisations working in the sector are struggling due to historic funding pressures. Staff on the frontline are experiencing burn-out, coming through the coronavirus pandemic into a cost-of-living crisis.
Recent research commissioned by Homeless Connect shows that staff view their work as a vocation, but many are struggling to make ends meet.
The lack of a functioning devolved institution is having a serious impact and hindering the ability of statutory, voluntary and community sectors to respond to the crisis we are seeing.
The Housing Executive, working collaboratively with the homelessness sector, has developed progressive strategies and plans which if properly implemented would make a real difference. However, at the current time it is simply impossible for them to implement these strategies due to the budgetary situation.
Homelessness is complex. It requires a planned and strategic approach involving many different state services and voluntary agencies to address it.
We need multi-year budgets, to provide certainty and to prevent scarce resources being diverted to crisis response rather than a preventative approach which everyone wants to see.
We need to invest to save.
The Housing Executive is supportive of an uplift in supporting people funding which is most encouraging, but without a functioning government to back additional funding bids it is hard to see how this can be realised.
We need more housing. The much-anticipated housing supply strategy has yet to be published. With plans for 100,000 homes over the next 15 years, a third of which are to be social housing, it is obvious that the current political gridlock is standing in our way.
We need people to have the conversation with their elected representatives about homelessness. A better future is possible, but it is very difficult to see how this can be achieved amidst the ongoing political crisis.
Homelessness and housing must be a priority here, and we urge our political parties to find a way to get back into government and address these major challenges our society face.
:: Nicola McCrudden is chief executive of Homeless Connect
