Over 2,000 people on housing lists

There are almost 200 elderly couples on the housing waiting lists, Mr Storey also revealed.

In the Foyle constituency, there are 1,651 singles on the waiting lists, while in the East Londonderry constituency there are 669.

The figures for elderly couples are 101 in Foyle and 75 in East Londonderry.

The Minister released the figures this week in response to a query from Strangford MLA David McNarry.

Mr McNarry asked the Minister to “detail the difference in the numbers of single people; and pensioner couples on housing waiting lists over the last four years”.

Mr Storey’s response also revealed that, across Northern Ireland, there are 17,266 single people on the housing waiting lists and 1,817 elderly couples.

Referring to figures for certain areas of Belfast, Mr Storey added: “There are certain waiting list areas that overlap Parliamentary constituency boundaries and it is not possible to apportion the numbers to a specific Parliamentary constituency.”