'Record-breaking' emergency housing demand over weekend

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) has said it has faced "unprecedented and record-breaking levels" of radical seeking exigency accommodation.

It said much than 4,500 households availed of exigency impermanent accommodation implicit the weekend.

NIHE added that further clang furniture facilities were besides made disposable connected Saturday.

"We ever strive to guarantee that everyone presenting to america is cared for," a connection said.

The People's Kitchen, a Belfast-based foundation which supports stateless and susceptible people, was captious of the NIHE's response.

The charity's laminitis and Belfast metropolis councillor Paul McCusker said that a "high amount" of those presenting for enactment person nary enactment but to slumber rough.

"[The] Northern Ireland Housing Executive advising determination is thing available, adjacent though they person a ineligible duty," helium said successful a statement.

"We cannot item capable the seriousness of the concern connected the streets of Belfast, a strategy by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive that is not acceptable for intent for the astir susceptible men and women connected our streets.

"This is an emergency".

However, the NIHE has refuted this claim.

A spokesperson said: "We bash not judge that we failed immoderate ineligible work to stateless presenters this week."

"[On Saturday] we faced unprecedented and record-breaking levels of radical presenting to america seeking exigency impermanent accommodation."

The NIHE added severe flooding caused by hours of dense rainfall pursuing Storm Bert meant resources were "extremely stretched".

“Immense unit was placed connected the constricted availability of impermanent accommodation arsenic a effect of this week’s utmost upwind conditions."

The NIHE said its teams were "active, connected the ground, astatine a fig of locations" implicit the weekend.

“Seventy-six radical presented themselves to the Housing Executive’s out-of-hours work during Saturday. This fig would usually beryllium astir 20.

"We cognize that astatine slightest 4 of the 76 were arsenic a nonstop effect of the flooding”.

Over the weekend, NIHE said much than 4,500 households availed of impermanent accommodation.

The NIHE added that 11,000 households person benefited from this enactment implicit the past year.

"We ever strive to guarantee that everyone presenting to america is cared for and yesterday further clang furniture facilities were made disposable to assistance those successful need.

"As stated, the concern faced by our teams connected Saturday nighttime was unprecedented and we volition proceed to assistance the astir susceptible successful our assemblage arsenic we person done consistently."

Temporary accommodation is utilized by NIHE clients who are either waiting for a imperishable connection of rehousing oregon those placed portion their circumstances are being examined.

The NIHE uses a fig of antithetic types of impermanent accommodation, including:

• Private azygous lets
• Voluntary assemblage and NIHE hostels
• Hotels oregon B&Bs
• Dispersed Intensively Managed Emergency Accommodation (DIME)

The fig of radical placed successful impermanent accommodation had risen from 4,527 successful 2020 to 16,943 successful 2023, an NIHE spokesperson told BBC News NI past month.

According to the DfC, the NIHE has 2 main duties successful presumption of accommodation.

The archetypal - the interim work to accommodate - means that if a idiosyncratic is stateless and has a precedence need, they tin beryllium housed aft their circumstances are afloat investigated.

The second, applied to those who conscionable the 4 legislative homelessness tests arsenic laid retired successful the Northern Ireland Housing Order 1988, including: eligibility, homelessness, precedence request and intentionality.

More than 30,000 households are presently registered arsenic being homeless, according to NIHE figures, portion the latest Stormont figures amusement that much than £34m was spent connected impermanent accommodation successful Northern Ireland successful the past fiscal year.

Providing much social, affordable, and sustainable lodging is among the cardinal priorities successful the Stormont Executive's draught programme for government.

Campaigners are acceptable to conscionable the Department for Communities (DfC), which sponsors the NIHE, connected Monday.

They said they volition effort to unafraid further exigency beds for the winter.