111 extra homeless households since 2008

Between March 2008 and September 2010 the amount of households presenting to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) as homeless in the city rose by 172 and the amount of households accepted as homeless by he body spiked by 111.

This has prompted the local NIHE to seek to expand the list of private rented accommodation which it currently holds for uses as temporary accommodation for the homeless in the Londonderry area.

It wants one, two and three bedroom properties that are self-contained, furnished and have independent access to plug the hole.

A NIHE spokeswoman told the Sentinel the drive fitted with its attempts to alleviate the stress of people who find themselves homeless.

She said: “The number of households presenting as homeless in the City has increased in the last three years from 1,222 at March 2008 to 1,394 at March 2010. Over the same period the number accepted as homeless has also increased from 714 to 825.

“We have a duty under homeless legislation to provide temporary accommodation in certain circumstances. We maintain a list of privately owned temporary accommodation and are seeking to increase it with good quality properties that will enable us to meet the needs of homeless applicants.

“We fully appreciate the difficulties that people experience as a result of becoming homeless and seek to prevent any additional stress being caused to them by providing them with suitable temporary accommodation, pending permanent rehousing.”