AQW 36642/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 02/12/2025
Answered On Date: 12/01/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail (i) the reason Housing First has not moved forward in Northern Ireland, since the 2012 report by the Housing Executive; and (ii) any steps he will take to overcome barriers to move the policy forward.

Answer:

Housing First has been operating on a small scale in Northern Ireland since 2013, funded by the Housing Executive’s Supporting People Programme with the support of DePaul and Simon Community. Expansion of Housing First is included in the Housing Executive Homelessness Strategy 2022-27.

Increased housing supply is vital to supporting this model, as outlined in the Housing First Feasibility Study, available via:

https://www.nihe.gov.uk/getattachment/6820a1fd-f47e-4119-812b-bdd639b68c62/Housing-First-Feasibility-Study-December-2025.pdf

My Department will work, in collaboration with other Departments and the Housing Executive, to address the constraints identified in this Feasibility Study.