Single Father Seeks Permanent Home for Children Amidst Rising Homelessness

Aaron Mullan, a single father of two, has experienced homelessness since 2023. He shared with BBC News NI that “Very quickly life changed. I ended up a single father of two.” After contacting the Housing Executive, Mr. Mullan found no permanent housing options for his family. They were subsequently housed in a hotel in Antrim for five weeks. Current statistics from the Department for Communities indicate that over 5,300 children in Northern Ireland are residing in temporary accommodation. Mr. Mullan recounted the difficulties, stating: “We’d travel an hour and a half each way to school. It took us so far away from any support and cost £17 a day on public transport.” He also noted the lack of essential amenities, mentioning “very little facilities,” no fridge, and no cooking area. He explained, “My youngest was still drinking from a bottle. I would buy fresh milk but had nowhere to store it.” The latest figures reveal that in November 2024, 5,378 children were living in temporary accommodation, with 3,385 of them being nine years old or younger. This figure marks a 121% increase since January 2019, when just over 2,433 children were in temporary accommodation. The number of households in temporary accommodation has also more than doubled since January 2019. Specifically, 4,908 households were in temporary accommodation in November 2024, compared to 2,065 in 2019. Between April and September, 8,250 households approached the Housing Executive due to homelessness. Mr. Mullan and his children were eventually placed in temporary accommodation in Belfast in October 2023. The family temporary accommodation service currently provides housing for 27 adults and 42 children. “I am very fortunate to be here,” he expressed. He added, “Having my own cooking facilities felt like I’d won the lottery. I felt like I had a burst of life again.” However, he conveyed that the strain of homelessness has significantly impacted his two children. “My daughter in the mornings doesn’t want to get up out of bed,” he observed. He further elaborated, “She is feeling frustrated and she doesn’t have that healthy way to get her feelings out.” “It’s very confusing for them. You can’t set up her room for her. “If she wants unicorns you can’t decorate. It feels like you’re living in a blank space. You still feel like a guest.” Mr. Mullan voiced concerns about his next placement. He remarked, “You don’t want to tell people you live in a hostel because there’s that pre judgement, that stigma.” He also shared, “There is an underlying shame because in a way you have failed to give the children somewhere secure to live.” Mr. Mullan and his family are among the 58,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in Northern Ireland. With the sector facing considerable pressure, organizations assisting those affected by homelessness emphasized the need to safeguard their services. Bernadette Donaghy of Depaul highlighted that possessing a home offers a sense of belonging and ownership. She stated, “Families that come here to Depaul have been displaced from their families.” She continued, “They have been socially isolated. They don’t know the community, the don’t know where they are being placed and this is where Depaul comes in.” Charlotte McKee and her son received assistance from Depaul’s family services after being forced to vacate their rented accommodation due to mould issues. She explained, “The landlord raised the rent and didn’t fix the issues. I couldn’t afford to rent somewhere else so I declared myself homeless.” Ms. McKee and her son, who has additional needs, were provided temporary accommodation at a Depaul-operated family service, located 18 miles from her son’s school. She noted, “Being homeless definitely affected my son. The way it displays with my son is impulsive behaviour, erratic behaviour.” She added, “Homelessness was really hard on him.” Ms. McKee used public transport for her son’s school commute to “keep some sort of continuity for him.” She reflected, “The thought of having to one uproot his home life and then two his school life. It made me feel like I was unfit,” she said. She and her son recently secured permanent accommodation. She observed, “I can really notice a difference in his behaviour has improved and he’s much calmer.” Dr. Ciara Fitzpatrick, an expert in socio-economic rights from Ulster University, identified inflation—the rate at which prices are increasing—as one of a “multitude” of factors contributing to the rise in homelessness. She elaborated, “We have a very squeezed private rented sector in Northern Ireland, we’ve got a long history where there’s been very little social housing built over the last two decades and so there’s literally a lack of homes.” Dr. Fitzpatrick asserted that the “chaos” inherent in living in temporary accommodation will “reflect onto [a] child’s life.” She further explained, “There’s so much stress involved with potentially moving from place to place, not having a stable home and a stable environment.” She concluded that a lack of stability is “so detrimental to mental health, and just to the child and parent’s life, it’s just so devastating.” Nicola McCrudden, Chief Executive of Homeless Connect, commented: “Sadly, for many experiencing homelessness, having a place of their own is becoming an aspiration.” She emphasized, “Homelessness is solvable. If we are to turn the curve on homelessness, we need to increase housing supply and affordability – including tackling issues of poverty.” Deirdre Canavan from Depaul remarked that these “disheartening” figures are “not a huge surprise.” She concluded, “There has been something of a ‘perfect storm’ created over the last few years which has pushed many more families into temporary accommodation.”