Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has announced plans for what he describes as “once-in-a-generation” reform of Northern Ireland’s homelessness system, including a new Homelessness Commission and a shift from crisis response to prevention-focused approaches.
The minister made the commitment at a Housing Rights event at Parliament Buildings this week (16 September 2026), alongside the organisation’s chief executive Katie McCauley. However, the announcement leaves several key questions unanswered, including when the Commission will be established and who will appoint its independent expert panels.
What is being proposed
Minister Lyons outlined a fundamental restructuring of how homelessness is addressed in Northern Ireland, with prevention and early intervention at its core. The centrepiece is a new Homelessness Commission for Northern Ireland, which will oversee:
- Comprehensive reviews of the homelessness legislative framework
- Operational and institutional changes to transform prevention and response
- Input from people with lived experience of homelessness
The minister indicated he would bring proposals for the Commission to the Executive “shortly,” but gave no specific timeline for its establishment or when it would begin work.
Minister’s statement
Minister Lyons said:
“I am committed to bringing about a comprehensive and meaningful system change so that, working together, we can make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.
“I intend to shortly bring forward to the Executive plans for the establishment of a Homelessness Commission for Northern Ireland.
“Independent, expert panels will carry out comprehensive reviews of our homelessness legislative framework and the operational and institutional changes required to transform how we prevent and respond to homelessness. The commission will also draw on the experiences of those who have lived through homelessness, with a firm focus on prevention and early intervention.”
He added:
“I am determined to deliver a lasting shift in how we address homelessness and rough sleeping, moving away from reacting to crisis and towards preventing it from happening in the first place.
“By harnessing expertise from across the sector, and working on a cross-government basis, we can help shape a system that delivers earlier support, better outcomes and greater stability when people are at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.”
Funding commitments
The Department for Communities highlighted several investments made during Lyons’ tenure:
- £2.5 million ringfenced for Strategic Homelessness Prevention in 2025/26, with further ringfenced funding committed for 2026/27
- More than £9 million allocated to the New Foundations Project to prevent care-leavers becoming homeless
- £10 million provided for the Loan to Acquire Move-on Accommodation (LAMA) Scheme, enabling homelessness organisations to purchase homes for people in hostels
- Supporting People programme funding increased from £72.8 million to approximately £84 million in 2025/26
The scale of the problem
According to official statistics, the minister’s announcement comes against a backdrop of record homelessness figures in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency reported that 8,217 households presented as homeless between April and September 2025, with 5,366 (65.3%) accepted as statutorily homeless.
More strikingly, figures released in August 2026 by the Simon Community revealed that 64,417 people are now experiencing homelessness in Northern Ireland—the highest level on record. This marks the first time the government has published data on the number of individuals affected rather than simply counting households.
The Simon Community’s chief executive Jim Dennison said at the time: “Every time these figures are released, the numbers get bigger. Homelessness in Northern Ireland is getting worse, year after year.”
Assembly research shows homelessness acceptances have risen 157 per cent over the past decade, from 24,727 in March 2014 to 63,426 in March 2026.
Context: Previous reform attempts
The minister’s “once-in-a-generation” framing invites comparison with previous initiatives. The current “Ending Homelessness Together” strategy covers 2022-2027, replacing a 2017-2022 strategy that itself built on earlier interdepartmental action plans.
However, a November 2024 report by the Northern Ireland Audit Office found that despite strategic aims to prioritise prevention, less than 10 per cent of the Housing Executive’s annual homelessness expenditure went on prevention initiatives between 2020 and 2024. In 2023-24, just six per cent of homelessness spend was on prevention.
The Audit Office also noted that the Housing Executive’s “key objective of prioritising homelessness prevention has not been achieved, despite its potential for long-term harm reduction and cost savings across public services.”
A February 2026 report by the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee was similarly critical, finding that multi-million pound spending on temporary accommodation and a lack of preventative planning were “driving homelessness” and “trapping” families in hotels and B&Bs.
Questions that remain
Several important details were not addressed in the minister’s announcement:
- Timeline: No date has been set for when the Commission will be established, when it will report, or when reforms might be implemented
- Accountability: There is no clarity on who will appoint the “independent expert panels,” what their terms of reference will be, or how their independence will be safeguarded
- Legislative change: It is unclear whether the review will require new primary legislation, secondary legislation, or administrative changes
- Resources: No additional funding was announced specifically for the Commission’s work
- Statutory basis: The announcement does not specify whether the Commission will have statutory powers or will be advisory
What happens next
The minister’s commitment to bring proposals to the Executive “shortly” suggests movement within weeks or months, but the lack of specificity means scrutiny will depend on future announcements. The involvement of Housing Rights—a respected charity providing advice and advocacy on housing issues—lends credibility to the process, though the organisation’s precise role in the Commission remains undefined.
The test of this initiative will be whether it succeeds where previous strategies have struggled: translating policy ambition into measurable reductions in homelessness, particularly the prevention of households reaching crisis point in the first place.
With more than 64,000 people now experiencing homelessness and temporary accommodation costs exceeding £40 million annually, the pressure for effective action is intensifying.