58% rise in four years: Over 1,000 individuals now in temporary accommodation in Derry & Strabane

Stark figures were released as the North West Methodist held a Breakfast Event on Thursday morning at Clooney Hall to mark Homeless Awareness Week.

Business, Civic and Church Leaders were in attendance to hear about the significant challenges within the sector and the positive work being undertaken to tackle homelessness.

Those working in the homelessness sector locally said that arguably the sector is facing its greatest challenges emerging from Covid and facing the current cost of living crisis. Recent figures demonstrate the scale of the challenge and more needs to be done to respond to the increasing demand on services.

In Derry and Strabane specifically, the number of households in temporary accommodation has risen from 303 in May 2018 to 560 in May 2022. This is an increase of 84.8%.

The number of individuals living in temporary accommodation in Derry and Strabane crossed the 1,000 mark in 2022.

On May 1, 2018, 645 individuals were living in temporary accommodation - by May 1, 2022, this had risen to 1019. This is an increase of 58%.

The difference between the household and individual rises may be an illustration that more single people have sought temporary accommodation in Derry and Strabane during that time, the Methodist Mission said.

Liam Milligan, Mission Director said: “The increased demand for services and support is hugely concerning. Those working in the sector are delivering critical client focused services and we have a highly skilled and committed staff. However, unless key issues such as housing supply, three-year funding and additional resources are properly addressed we will continue to struggle to achieve the key aim of ending homelessness. It is vital therefore that our political institutions are reinstated as soon as possible.”

Mr. Milligan added: “We are hugely grateful to our funders and partners including Supporting People, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Western Health & Social Services Trust, Apex and Choice Housing Associations for their support and look forward to continuing the conversation with them on the development of services in the city.”

Tracy Hegarty, Vice Chair of North West Methodist Mission highlighted the rise in women and children experiencing homelessness saying It is of particular concern to learn of the doubling over four years of the numbers of women and children experiencing homelessness.

"Our staff are exceptional however the services cannot meet the escalating demand without changes being affected. It is tragic at any time of year to be faced with homelessness but particularly upsetting at this time of year.”

"The Mission will do all it can to make the season of Christmas a happy one for those we support. I would like to acknowledge and thank our staff for their commitment to supporting the clients throughout the year as I know they make a huge difference to the lives of those that look to us for support both at Christmas and beyond”.