1 Comment
The number of people waiting more than five years for housing in the Newry, Mourne and Down district has risen by 50 per cent since 2021, according to figures obtained by Aontú. The party's Newry and Armagh representative, Roisin Mulgrew, has described the increase as shocking and unacceptable.
The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show the number of applicants waiting more than five years rose from 1,948 in 2021 to 2,976 in 2026. Mulgrew pointed out that each application could represent a family rather than just an individual, meaning the true number of people affected could be considerably higher. The same period has also seen an 80 per cent rise in those waiting for a housing transfer.
Mulgrew said the housing waiting list now exceeds 50,000 people, the vast majority of whom are deemed to be in housing stress. She said pledges to build 2,200 homes yearly were never fulfilled and were always going to be inadequate to begin tackling the issue.
"It is incredible that despite the Stormont executive being in existence for 27 years, they have collectively failed to tackle the absolutely dire housing situation in the North of Ireland," she said.
Mulgrew said she regularly speaks to families paying over-inflated rents for private accommodation. "Day and daily, I speak to families paying over-inflated rents for private accommodation," she continued. "Accommodation is often in a poor state of repair or not suitable for the needs of the family."
She said housing is a basic human right and called on the Stormont executive to support the housing executive in securing the necessary funding to start building homes again.
