Demand for temporary accommodation in Northern Ireland has soared by 176 per cent in six years and is causing “potentially unsustainable financial pressure” on homelessness services, a public spending watchdog has warned.
A Northern Ireland Audit Office report, published on Tuesday , found the cost of tackling the crisis had escalated, with almost £39 million (€47 million) spent by the North’s Housing Executive in sourcing accommodation for those with “homelessness status” last year.
Self-contained, single-let accommodation accounted for the majority of its bill.
However, the report also identified that hotels and B&Bs cost the Housing Executive more than £12 million last year compared to £7.5 million in 2022-23 and £0.9 million in 2018-19.
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Auditors found that this expenditure was “disproportionate to the number of households placed in such accommodation”.
While only about 10 per cent of households were placed in hotels and B&Bs, they “account for over 30 per cent of annual spend on temporary accommodation”.
Calls are made in the report to reduce this public spend as it was “hindering” efforts to prioritise homelessness prevention measures.
By law, it is mandatory for the Housing Executive to provide temporary accommodation to households that have homeless status.
Since 2017, the number of such households on the social housing waiting list has increased by 81 per cent, with 12,000 of these households having been on the waiting list for more than four years, according to the Homelessness in Northern Ireland audit study.
Many of these households rely on temporary accommodation while they wait for a permanent home.
The report found that about 4,700 households were in temporary accommodation in 2023-24 compared to 1,700 households a night in 2017.
It identified that a “small proportion” of Housing Executive spending – about £4.5 million in 2023-24 – was directed at preventing homelessness, despite this “being at the very heart of its Homelessness Strategy”.
In her report, Northern Ireland Comptroller and Auditor General Dorinnia Carville acknowledged the “unprecedented demand” for homelessness services was affected by an inadequate supply of social housing, the impact of Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis.
“Homelessness has impacts across society, with long-term consequences for health and education outcomes, and the costs to the public purse are significant and rising,” she said.
“Dealing with these issues is complex and my report acknowledges the efforts being made by the Housing Executive and those working in the sector under challenging circumstances.
“However, in order to ensure the best use of public money, there is a need to reduce spending on hotels and B&Bs, and for an increased focus on homelessness prevention and the supply of new social housing. Until these key issues are resolved, demand for homelessness services is likely to continue to escalate to a point where it may become financially unsustainable.”
The umbrella organisation representing the North’s homelessness sector backed the report’s calls to increase spending on preventative measures to tackle the problem as opposed to “reactive spending” on emergency accommodation.
“B&Bs and hotels should only be used as a last resort and where possible people experiencing homelessness should be placed appropriately in temporary accommodation best suited to their needs. The reduction in B&B and hotel usage must be a top priority and we will support measures which sustainably make this possible,” said Nicola McCrudden of Homeless Connect.
