Inside Housing – Home – Communities minister announces £3.7m extra funding for homelessness

News03.12.24by Grainne CuffeThe communities minister in Northern Ireland has announced an extra £3.7m for tackling homelessness.Belfast (picture: Alamy)SharelinesCommunities minister announces £3.7m extra funding for homelessness #UKhousing The communities minister in Northern Ireland has announced an extra £3.7m for tackling homelessness #UKhousing Gordon Lyons also announced £3m to support the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE)’s service delivery, but said that tackling the challenges around housing has to be “collective goal”.
The latest government statistics showed that the number of applicants on the housing waiting list in Northern Ireland was 48,366 on 30 September.
This week, Mr Lyons told the Northern Ireland Assembly that “everyone needs a secure and safe place to call home. I share the ambition in this motion to make homelessness brief, rare and non-recurrent”. He said that Homelessness Awareness Week, which began on 2 December, “highlights the reality of homelessness in Northern Ireland”.
“I have said before that we must be radical in our approach to homelessness, seeking innovative solutions to problems and thinking of different ways to respond to need. 
“We need to make the strategic shift to the prevention of homelessness, and that remains my ambition. However, this will take time, and our short-term focus must continue to be supporting those currently in crisis,” Mr Lyons said. 
He said he “recognised the growing demand”, but is “determined to bring forward measures which will proactively address the issues we face”.
He said the extra £3.7m, released as part of the October monitoring round, “will allow the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to provide certainty of funding for the remainder of the year to their third-sector partners who deliver valuable services for people who are homeless”. He said: “While I have yet to receive my budget for next year, I will ensure that NIHE is able to continue to give providers that same level of certainty by specifically allocating part of its budget allocation for such work.
“But it is clear that our approach has to be wider than funding alone.
“I hope to publish the housing supply strategy imminently and, in doing so, announce new measures which will be creative in terms of both investment and innovative steps.
“But this has to be a collective goal. I look forward to working with other departments and our sectoral partners in a co-ordinated and effective way.”
Mr Lyons acknowledged those who are involved in services to address homelessness.
He said: “I want to put on record my thanks to Homeless Connect, and each of the organisations across the sector, for the work they do each and every day to support some of the most vulnerable in our society.
“Voluntary and community organisations across the homelessness sector make an invaluable, and sometimes lifesaving, contribution to the lives of people across Northern Ireland.” Sign up for our Northern Ireland bulletin



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