Executive should be “utterly ashamed” of 50,000 household waiting list
6,556 applicants on the waiting list in Derry and Strabane
The passing of 50,000 households on the housing waiting list is a record of which the Stormont Executive should be “utterly ashamed” according to Derry City and Strabane District councillor, Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit).
The figure was revealed in the NI Housing Bulletin January to March 2026, published on Thursday (May 28).
According to the report, the total number of applicants on the Housing Executive waiting list (with no existing NIHE/housing association tenancy) at March 31, 2026, was 50,381.
Of these applicants, 39,008 households were in ‘housing stress’ and 33,412 had full duty applicant (FDA).
A full duty applicant is an applicant considered by the Housing Executive to be eligible, homeless (or threatened with homelessness), in priority need and unintentionally homeless, to whom the Housing Executive owes full housing duty.
The local government districts with the highest number of applicants were Derry City and Strabane (6,556) and Belfast (14,196).
“Housing Minister, Gordon Lyons, has missed one paltry target, agreed by the Stormont Executive, after another,” said Cllr Harkin.
“Households are languishing for years on the waiting list, many trapped in temporary and often unsuitable accommodation, in the hope of getting a home,” he added
“Lyons and the DUP scapegoat migrants for the housing crisis to deflect from their and the Stormont Executive's failure.
“In February 2024, DUP and Sinn Féin representatives in Derry and Strabane Council backed a unanimously supported People Before Profit motion calling on the Communities Minister to urgently initiate ‘the immediate multi-year building of at least 1000 social houses a year in targeted areas across the District’.
“The motion also called for ‘immediate action to reduce the number of empty houses across the District in order to create affordable homes for families and individuals’. The gulf between what local representatives vote for and what their Stormont representatives implement is stark. There is no accountability
“Stormont's failure will lead to despair and cynicism, but without bold action, the housing crisis will worsen. The only hope for bold action and a complete change of course will come from people-power pressure,” said Cllr Harkin.
“People Before Profit will use our platforms to amplify real solutions to the housing crisis and build a grassroots movement that unites communities feeling the brunt of Stormont's inaction,” he added.