AQW 6229/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 03/09/2020
Answered On Date: 05/10/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to outline (i) the actions taken by her Department during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide accommodation for homeless street sleepers; and (ii) the actions her Department is taking to prevent the issue from returning after any temporary measures are withdrawn.

Answer:

An MOU was set up between my Department, the Housing Executive and DoH. As the statutory body with responsibility for provision of housing, the Housing Executive was best placed to commission necessary accommodation arrangements.

The Housing has advised that as of 8 September it, in conjunction with homeless charities and organisations, has identified 62 individuals who were rough sleeping. These individuals were engaged with and assisted to avail of temporary accommodation and support.

These individuals were placed in temporary accommodation, including homeless supported accommodation, B&B/Hotels, single lets and a House of Multiple occupation (HMO). All placements have been made with the aim of providing the most suitable type of accommodation that is sensitive to the extreme vulnerabilities that are often present amongst rough sleepers.

A number of those sleeping rough had no recourse to public funds (NRPF) and were ineligible for housing assistance. In the context of maintaining adherence to current public health advice on social distancing, self-isolation or shielding, DoH agreed to fund the provision of accommodation for these individuals during the period of the current emergency.

My Department and the Housing Executive are currently assessing and evaluating the measures put in place to address homelessness during the COVID-19 crisis. This will inform our future homeless policy as we look to improve our response to homelessness