Cuts to a scheme offering financial help to private renters in receipt of benefits will lead to a rise in homelessness, it has been warned.
Tenants who have received assistance through the Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) scheme for two years or more are set to have their payments cut as a result of budgetary pressures faced by Stormont's Department for Communities.
The scheme, operated through the NI Housing Executive, is aimed at tenants in receipt of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, and offers a payment to help meet the cost of rent.
In letters sent to affected tenants, the Housing Executive said an increase in demand means payments will cease.
The letter cites the "ongoing cost of living crisis", adding: "Awards were not designed to be paid on a long term basis and we are now therefore unable to pay beyond a two-year period."
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Earlier this year, payments were paused after the Housing Executive confirmed the budget for the DHP scheme for the 2022/23 financial year was exhausted.
The Law Centre NI said the new changes will "increase the risk of homelessness for many".
Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong has described the cuts as cruel.
"For many, Discretionary Housing Payments are the only way they can afford private rents and in a climate of soaring rents, cutting this support will lead to a rise in demand for social housing that simply isn't there," she said.
"If you cannot afford rent and there is no alternative accommodation, then families and many living on their own will be added to the growing homeless lists.”
Ms Armstrong has asked the Department for Communities "for an urgent meeting to clarify how this action will be mitigated against".
The Department for Communities and the Housing Executive have been approached for comment.
