OVER 3,000 individuals have been on the housing waiting list in Belfast for over five years, latest figures show.
The numbers were revealed by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons following an Assembly question by West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll.
Mr Carroll asked the Minister to detail the number to people waiting for a Housing Executive or housing association allocation for over five years in West Belfast.
As of June 2025, 3,513 individuals within applicant households have been waiting over five years. In March 2021, the figure stood at 2,310, a rise of 1,203.
The figures include anyone registered on the housing waiting list and includes those privately renting, staying with friends or family or living in temporary accommodation as well as those who are street homeless.
The figures also reveal that there are 3,266 housing stress individuals (30 points or more) waiting over five years in June 2025, compared to 2,110 in March 2021.
Reacting to the figures, Mr Carroll said: "It is a disgrace that thousands of people in Belfast are languishing on social housing waiting lists for years.
"This is a direct result of the Stormont Executive's failure to build enough social homes for growing numbers of families who desperately need them. But rather than embarking on an ambitious social housing construction programme, the Communities Minister has instead cut funding to housing associations—the only bodies currently building social homes.
"While people wait endlessly for social housing, many find themselves trapped in poor quality, insecure and extortionately expensive private rentals.
"In the absence of any serious attempt by the Executive to regulate the private rented sector, my private member's bill would introduce rent controls and ban no-fault evictions, making private renting more secure and affordable for tenants."
