The Housing Executive

There continues to be a substantial demand for social housing. Evidence of the need for social housing in Northern Ireland comes from two main sources: local housing needs assessments (using the Common Waiting List for social housing) and the Net Stock Model (developed in partnership with the University of Ulster in 1994 and updated on a regular basis since). The most recent version of the Net Stock Model points to the need for 1,900 new homes to be built each year. However, because there were several years since 2001 where this target was not achieved, it is considered appropriate that an additional 600 are provided each year to make up the shortfall of previous years.

At March 2011 there were 39,891 applicants registered on the social housing waiting list, with 20,967 deemed to be in housing stress, an increase on the previous year from 38,120 and 19,716 respectively.

During the year, the number of households presenting as homeless increased from 18,664 to 20,158. The number of households accepted as statutorily homeless also increased from 9,914 to 10,433 up 5% on the previous year.