We strongly urge the Department to ensure that the Social Housing targets of 2,000 new starts are met.

Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) recently responded to the Department for Communities’ Budget 2023-2024 Equality Impact Assessment, which presented the decisions required by the Department to live within its 2023-24 Budget allocation and the potential impact of those decisions on people in Section 75 categories.

We, and the homeless families we work alongside on a regular basis, are deeply concerned about the shortfall for building new homes. Before the budget, the Department for Communities’ original target for new starts on social homes was 2,000, but the cuts could reduce it to 1,400. Analysis shows that this would have a detrimental effect in particular on three Section 75 groups:

• Children and Young People
• People from Black and Minority Ethnic Groups, including Refugees and Asylum Seekers
• People with different religious beliefs

Click here to read the full submission