Thread by @K8McCauley

Great to see housing at the top of the agenda on #BBCTheView.
Supply of new homes 🏠 is an urgent priority & agree with @GrainiaLong that it’s do-able.Priority given to housing in new PFG is a chance to turbocharge this.

However- there are other things we must do in parallel:

https://twitter.com/bbctheview/status/1844048833443176607

A few thoughts from me based on our experience @HousingRightsNI

1) we must do more to prevent homelessness. This needs to be a priority too.
We need legislation & resources to make sure we stop the problem before it starts. This is also do-able and is in place elsewhere

2) like the problems with supply, often the way to prevent homelessness needs multiple public bodies to work together. There are some good examples of this happening but it doesn’t go deep enough or far enough ‘upstream’. It needs to be led by @niexecutive and a clear priority

3) the precarity facing many private renters is the worst I’ve seen it. People who lose their home because their landlord evicts them or because they can’t afford a rent increase, now can’t find another property to rent & are becoming homeless.

4) We urgently need better protections for renters. PRS is driving homelessness & requires intervention from govt & improved legislation. Elsewhere in the UK ending no fault evictions is a priority & renters have longer tenancies-why can’t renters here have same protection?

5) @RentersVoice have been working with tenants in NI to gather evidence about the need for change. We will be focussing on what needs to change at @HousingRightsNI conference chaired by @Paddygray1 on 20 Nov

housingrights.org.uk/training-and-e…

6) last and by no means least, we need to keep the focus on the damaging experience too many people have because they are homeless for too long. This is not ok. Housing is about homes and people. The coverage frm @mandy_mcauley & @BBCSpotlightNI has been excellent & we need more!