Soaring rents forcing thousands into homelessness

THE number of people facing homelessness because they cannot afford to rent is at the highest level since 2008, a charity has warned.

During 2022/23, 2,892 people presented as homeless to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), citing a loss of rented accommodation.

The figure represented almost a fifth of all people who presented as homeless.

Numbers have risen by 17% in the last year alone and are 16% higher than in 2016/17.

According to separate figures released by the Department for Communities (DfC) this month, between June and December 2023 more than 1,200 households were made homeless due to rental pressures.

Stephen Morrison, policy coordinator at Housing Rights, a charity which helps people facing homelessness, said that problems with rental affordability are the worst they have been in 15 years.

Between 2007 and 2008, at the height of the financial crash, 3,236 households were made homeless due to a loss of rented accommodation.

Mr Morrison said issues around private rented accommodation are “vastly overrepresented” in the calls the charity receives.

“Something that has been, particularly since the pandemic, cropping up a lot is people calling up because they can’t afford the private rented sector anymore and want advice on what steps they can take to address it,” he said.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), rents in Northern Ireland are climbing faster than anywhere else in the UK.

Private rental prices in Northern Ireland increased by 9.1% in the 12 months to September 2023 - compared to a 6.2% average increase in the UK.

Mr Morrison added: “In general there is an affordability issue, almost across the board with the private rented sector and the homeowner sector specifically.

“At the bottom of the scale, you have people whose affordability limits are being stretched, even before the pandemic, and who are now being forced out onto the social housing waiting lists.”

Housing waiting lists hit record numbers last summer, up by 10% from a decade ago and almost double what they were twenty years ago.

According to the latest figures, more than 46,461 households - equating to 86,239 people - are currently on the housing waiting list.

When applying for social housing priority is calculated based on a points system.

Points are allocated to applicants according to categories - including health and housing conditions - and the more points a household is allocated, the higher up they are on the list.

“The issue with that is that at the minute there’s over 45,000 people on the housing waiting list as it is, and 33,000 of them are in housing stress, which is over 30 points,” Mr Morrison said.

“Relative to other people on the waiting list, 30 points is nothing, and you’re probably going to be there for two years if you’re on 30 points.

“It’s a spiralling issue here, where economic factors and rising rents are driving the most vulnerable and low income households out of the private rented market on the social housing waiting list, which itself is experiencing massive stress.”

Rising rents

According to property website PropertyPal, average rents in Northern Ireland since 2016 have climbed by 40% on average - £570 to nearly £800 - outpacing headline inflation of 27%.

Dr Michael McCord, reader in real estate valuation at Ulster University, said that rents across Northern Ireland have been climbing steadily in recent years, rising to £849 in the second half of 2023 - a 10% increase on the same time the previous year.

According to Ulster University’s rental price index, 96% of rents in Belfast are above £600 per property, with almost a quarter above £1,100 per month.

“Evidence from agents continues to point to several key pressures and challenges within the rental sector,” said Dr McCord.

“Agents are commenting that we are seeing evidence of rent bidding, landlords’ financial assessment of tenants and queues for rental properties with 30 queries for properties after minutes of listing.”

Dr McCord added that longer lease renewals, and landlords opting to sell due to rising mortgage rates, were limiting the availability of rental properties.

“The sector is in crisis, underregulated and there is a distinct lack of help for both tenants and landlords,” he said.

“There are not enough measures considered for the rental sector at large.

“We have gone through a number of fiscal and budgetary statements and emergency measures for mortgagors with relatively little attention on the rental market and lean support for both renters and landlords during a well vocalised time of market pressures.”

The Belfast committee of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) said they have seen the rising numbers reflected amongst their members.

In a statement, CATU said: “Tenants now find themselves competing for housing in an out-of-control market, where average rent in Belfast is over £950 and 75 enquiries are received for each rental advertised on PropertyPal.

“Those who find themselves priced out of the private rented sector have no choice but to present as homeless to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

“They may then be offered a place in temporary accommodation, and join the 45,000 people on the waiting list for a social home.”

According to official figures, between 2020 and 2021, 636 people presented as homeless to the NIHE following loss of private rented accommodation due to the sale of a property.

Between 2021 and 2022, this number had more than doubled to 1,380.

CATU said it wanted to see an overhaul of the rental and social housing sector.

“CATU Belfast wants to see an end to no-fault evictions and immediate investment in the mass construction of high-quality, affordable social homes.”

Mark Baillie, policy and public affairs manager at Homeless Connect, a charity representing organisations working with people facing homelessness, said it was concerned about the number of people presenting as homeless due to a loss of private rented accommodation.

“Accessing high-quality accommodation suitable to their needs in the private rented sector is becoming increasingly challenging for those on low incomes,” he said.

“Within our manifesto for the 2023 local government election our asks included that local councils use their planning powers to ensure new social and genuinely affordable housing gets built where it is needed, and for an enforcement of the measures outlined in the Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 to protect tenants.”

Changes introduced by the Act mean that landlords cannot request deposits larger than one month’s rent.

Mr Baillie added: “We also believe the Executive needs to urgently consider and deliver increasing investment for new social and genuinely affordable housing.”

Mr Morrison also said that the Executive must make tackling the housing crisis a priority.

“But for anything to move forward it will require cross departmental work, including the Department for Infrastructure in terms of building houses, that needs to be embedded in a programme for government,” he said.

A spokesman for the DfC said minister Gordon Lyons “has outlined his ambition to prioritise prevention of homelessness, working with the NIHE and the sector to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurrent”.

“The minister recognises that it will take time – and a collective effort – to achieve this ambition, particularly given the ongoing cost of providing temporary accommodation, which is increasing for a range of reasons,” he said.

The department added that its short-term focus was on supporting those “currently in crisis”.

It said it was working to address the shortage of affordable homes.

“This includes building more social houses, funding more affordable homes and also improving protections for tenants,” the spokesman said.

“This work is ongoing with stakeholders, statutory organisations and residents, with the involvement of government at all levels.”