Latest Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin shows increase in homeless households

The latest Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin released by the Department for Social Development, covering the quarter July-September 2015, has shown increases in both the number of households presenting to the Housing Executive as homeless, and the number of households granted ‘Full Duty Applicant’ status by the Housing Executive.

Key data from the NI Housing Bulletin:

• 4,856 households presented as homeless in this quarter – this is an increase of 2% on the last quarter.
• 2,766 households were awarded ‘Full Duty Applicant’ (FDA) status by the Housing Executive – this is an increase of 12% on the last quarter. An applicant with FDA status is considered by the Housing Executive to be unintentionally homeless and in priority need; therefore the Housing Executive have a ‘full duty’ to secure housing for them.
• The main reasons for those households presenting as homeless, and being awarded FDA status, were:

1. Current accommodation not being reasonable
2. A sharing breakdown or family dispute

• The average Northern Ireland house price in this quarter was £116,765. This is an increase of 3% from the previous quarter, and a 7% increase over the past year.

The full report is available on the Department’s website.