Number of children in TA also sees 65% increase
The number of households living in temporary accommodation (TA) in Northern Ireland has increased by 79% over the past five years, the government’s latest homelessness bulletin has revealed.
New figures covering the six months from October 2025 show 5,633 households living in TA in April 2026, up from 3,140 in January 2021.
The statistics also show 4,837 children under 18 were living in TA in April 2026, representing a 65% increase since January 2021.
Nicola McCrudden, chief executive of Homeless Connect, a membership body for organisations working with people experiencing homelessness, said: “At a time of heightened public concern about immigration and pressure on public services we need to be clear about what is driving homelessness”.
She said this was “the result of long-term policy decisions over many years, particularly the failure to build enough social and genuinely affordable homes.”
Meanwhile, the national director of the Chartered Institute of Housing Northern Ireland said the 446% annual increase in the use of managed leased properties for TA “represents important progress” by “moving people out of unpredictable hotel rooms and into secure, managed homes.”
Justin Cartwright urged Stormont to finalise a multi-year budget “that invests heavily in long-term prevention, rather than just managing the consequences of a shortage of homes.”
The Department for Communities’ homelessness bulletin (October 2025 – March 2026) showed that 5,039 (64%) of the 7,836 households who presented as homeless were accepted as statutorily homeless.
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