10,000 'trapped' in emergency accommodation, says housing charity

Housing charities say the pace of social housing construction needs to increase.

That is despite new government figures showing over 2,500 social housing units were completed last year.

By the end of 2017, 5,500 units were either under construction or about to commence.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has also set local authorities the target of completing 41,000 homes by the end of 2021.

However, Niamh Randall of the Simon Communities says more radical solutions are needed to cope with the scale of the situation.

"We have 10,000 people trapped in emergency accommodation - men, women and children - living their lives trapped in emergency accommodation," said Ms Randall.

"So clearly, we need to look at mechanisms to deliver homes really quickly.

"We are still waiting for the Empty Homes Strategy, we need to look at rapid builds as well. We need to ensure that we get homes built and delivered really, really quickly."