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At Housing Rights we believe that everyone should have a home, and we work tirelessly to keep people in their homes and help them with their housing problems.
Our 2021-22 Impact Card outlines the positive impact that Housing Rights had on people’s lives over the course of the year.
As a result of our work between March 2021 to April 2021:
Last month, the UK government announced that households in Northern Ireland will get a one-off payment of £600 to help with rising energy costs. The government is delivering the Energy Bills Support Scheme in the absence of an executive at Stormont.
The High Court has allowed a judicial review into the Housing Executive’s decision not to award intimidation points to a homeless applicant.
Background to application for judicial review
The applicant in this case had experienced paramilitary attacks in the past. Because of this, the Housing Executive awarded intimidation points and allocated social housing.
Young people who have experienced domestic abuse or modern slavery will be exempt from the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) shared accommodation rules from 1st October 2022.
The new regulations broaden the existing exemptions for young people under the local housing allowance rules for calculating help with private rental costs. This applies to claimants of both Housing Benefit and Universal Credit.
We stopped a young woman and her baby becoming homeless when the Housing Executive decided that her immigration status meant she was no longer entitled to temporary housing.
Sofie’s story
Sofie was born in Denmark. She moved to Northern Ireland with her family as a baby. She's 20 now and has an 10-month-old daughter. Sofie has lived her whole life in Northern Ireland.
Last week the Private Tenancies Bill passed its final stage and is waiting for royal assent. The only immediate change this will bring is to notice periods for private tenancies.
Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey has announced changes to the Discretionary Housing Payments Scheme, offering greater support to private renters.
The scheme which is administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, provides top-up payments to private renters to help meet the shortfall between their rent and help with housing costs.
The next Housing Advice Practitioners’ Forum will take place online on Wednesday, March 30. The webinar starts at 2:00 pm and will include a presentation from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
Keeping our members updated on the latest information on housing legislation, policy and practice is an important aspect of Housing Rights' work.
We’ve seen an increase in the number of young people asking for help with housing issues in recent months.
Housing Rights for Young People is our specialist support service for young people in housing need. The service offers young people aged between 18-25 (or thereabouts):
Advice and information
Casework and advocacy
Mediation
Our young people's mediator has been able to help young people to resolve a variety of housing issues.
We’ve seen an increase in the number of young people asking for help with housing issues in recent months.
Housing Rights for Young People is our specialist support service for young people in housing need. The service offers young people aged between 18-25 (or thereabouts):
