Committee for Communities calls for urgent action to stabilise homelessness services

The Committee for Communities has published a report highlighting mounting pressures on homelessness services and the Supporting People Programme, warning that urgent action is required to prevent further escalation of the crisis.

The report brings together evidence gathered during Homelessness Awareness Week 2025, written submissions from stakeholders and oral evidence from frontline providers at the Committee’s meeting on 4 December 2025.

Committee Chair Colm Gildernew MLA said: “The evidence presented to the Committee was clear and deeply concerning.

“Homelessness services in Northern Ireland are facing a perfect storm of rising demand, increasingly complex need and a funding model that is no longer sustainable in real terms.”

According to analysis of NISRA figures by the Simon Community, as of September 2025, 62,314 people were recorded as homeless in Northern Ireland, with more than 90,000 people on the social housing waiting list and growing numbers of children living in temporary accommodation.

Mr Gildernew added: “The Committee is particularly concerned that the system is becoming more reliant on costly crisis interventions rather than early, preventative support.

“This approach is neither effective nor value for money.”

The Committee heard evidence that the Supporting People Programme, which supports around 20,000 people annually, is under severe financial pressure. Providers warned that increases in the National Living Wage and Employer National Insurance Contributions will add £5.5 million in costs in 2025/26, without any corresponding budget uplift.

“Without immediate financial stabilisation, we were told that some vital services – particularly those supporting young people and people with complex needs – may become unviable within this financial year,” said Mr Gildernew.

The report also highlights significant recruitment challenges, with frontline support staff paid as little as £12.66 per hour, and notes that homelessness in Northern Ireland is closely linked to health and trauma, requiring a more joined-up response across government.

Committee Recommendations

The Committee has made five strategic recommendations, including:

• Immediate agreement of a multi-year Supporting People budget, with annual inflationary uplifts
• Completion of a comprehensive review of homelessness legislation, with a stronger focus on prevention
• Extension of the ‘threatened with homelessness’ period in line with best practice elsewhere
• Establishment of a cross-departmental task force to address homelessness as a health, trauma and social issue
• Improved use of data to reflect both statutory and hidden homelessness.

Concluding, Mr Gildernew said: “Failing to invest in prevention simply shifts costs onto other public services. This report sets out a compelling case for urgent, coordinated action. In the first instance, the Committee urges the Minister for Communities and the Executive to accept the report’s recommendations.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

You can access the Committee report here - https://lk.cmte.fyi/homelessness

For further media queries, please contact : Robbie.Best@niassembly.gov.uk