Over 40,000 people in Northern Ireland are on the Housing Executive waiting list - with 30,000 of them in ‘housing stress’ - yet only around 2,000 social or affordable homes are built each year.
The number of people on social-housing waiting lists in Northern Ireland has risen by a tenth during the pandemic – over three times more quickly than in the preceding 12 months, according to new figures. By December 31st, 2020, the social-housing waiting list stood at 42,665, data released by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) following a freedom-of-information request shows. The waiting list on March 31st, 2020, before the full effects of the Covid-19 pandemic were known, was 38,745 – up 2.3 per cent from March 2019 and the highest number Northern Ireland had seen for years.