- The most recent official data covers 2022-23 and shows that almost 2,900 households declared themselves homeless due to a loss of rental accommodation that year – which is the highest since 2007-08.
- Alongside unreasonable accommodation and a breakdown in household relations, loss of a rental home was in the top three reasons for presenting as homeless overall.
- It was also in the top three last year – and almost every year for the past decade.
- Recently, rents in Northern Ireland have been rising faster than elsewhere in the UK.
In its strategic plan for 2024-29, housing advice and advocacy charity Housing Rights claimed:
“Losing rental accommodation remains in the top three reasons for homelessness.
“2,892 households approached the Housing Executive for homelessness support due to loss of rental accommodation in 2022-23 – the highest since 2007-08.”
This is backed by evidence.
There are two strands to this claim:
- Loss of rental accommodation “remains” in the top three reasons for presenting as homeless.
- The number of households presenting as homeless in 2022-23 for this reason was 2,892, the highest such number since 2007-08.
Both of these strands are supported by information from the Department for Communities.
Official data shows the number of households who gave this reason for presenting as homeless in 2022-23 was 2,892, and that this was the highest such figure since 2007-8.
This puts the loss of rental accommodation in the top three reasons why households present as homeless in the most recent year for which there are published figures. It was also in the top three in 2021-22, and has been in every year (excluding one, 2020-21) since 2010-11.
Based on all that, the claim is accurate. Let’s take a closer look at the data below.
- Numbers
The Department for Communities (DfC) publishes annual bulletins of housing statistics. The most recent is Northern Ireland Housing Statistics 2022-23, which contains data on the number of households presenting as homeless due to loss of rental accommodation for every year since 2004-05.
This shows that, in 2022-23, a total of 2,892 households presented as homeless for this reason, and that this is the highest number since 2007-08.
Figures show that, in 2007-08, 3,236 households presented as homeless due to loss of rental accommodation. Between then and 2022-23 – the most recent year for which there is published data – this figure ranged from a low of 1,689 in 2020-21 (which may have been affected by the pandemic) to a high of 2,841 in 2014-15. Discounting years where Covid-19 was a factor, the lowest number of presenting households was 2,161, in 2009-10.
This supports the second strand of the claim. What about the first?
- Pattern
Figure 1 – source: Housing Rights strategic plan 2024-29
Official DfC data lists 12 separate, specific categories why households present as homeless, as well as further options for “other” reasons and for no reasons stated.
In 2022-23, loss of rental accommodation was indeed in the top three reasons why households declare themselves as homeless, behind only “Accommodation not reasonable” (3,732 households) and “Sharing breakdown/family dispute” (3,505 households).
However, is it fair to say it “remains” in the top three reasons?
At the very least, that suggests it was also in the top three in 2021-22 – which is the case: 2,463 households presented as homeless for this reason, again behind only unreasonable accommodation (3,781 households) and sharing breakdown/family dispute (3,606).
Looking further back, loss of rental accommodation was only the fourth most commonly-stated reason in 2020-21 – with “Marital/relationship breakdown” mentioned slightly more frequently
Aside from that year, official DfC data indicates that loss of rental accommodation has been in the top three reasons for presenting as homeless in every year since 2010-11.
Overall, it is fair to suggest that loss of rental accommodation “remains” in the top three reasons in 2022-23.
- Context
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS):
“Average rent in Northern Ireland increased by 10.4% in the 12 months to February 2024, up from 10.1% in January 2024. This is the highest annual rise since this series began in 2016.”
The same ONS bulletin states that, by the latest estimates (for the 12 months to April 2024), average rent in the UK has increased by 8.9% in the past year.
