The human cost of homelessness cannot be overstated. As an Assembly and an Executive, we need to get to grips with the level of housing need that exists across our society and constituencies. I speak again today, first and foremost, to thank the Simon Community for sharing its recent research, which suggests that we could have in the region of 80,000 people experiencing homelessness. The significant suggested number — people who are invisible and unaccounted for in official statistics — points to the reality of hidden homelessness, which might include staying with a relative, living in a car or sofa-surfing in the homes of friends or colleagues.

Living in temporary or non-standard forms of accommodation is unsettling for so many reasons, not least the impact that it has on people's mental health, resilience and well-being. It disrupts any stability or certainty in people's lives and impacts on their access to opportunities, whether in employment or education; and it can have devastating outcomes if the root causes of homelessness are not adequately addressed. We know the effect that it can have on physical health conditions and the mobility of some individuals. No person who is living with disabilities, for example, should find themselves feeling constrained and helpless because they do not have a stable home in which to access essential equipment, support and necessary adaptations.

With a spend of £34·5 million in 2023-24 on temporary accommodation, and rising, it is not acceptable for the Department for Communities to suggest a social housing programme that will deliver 400 — 400 — new homes in 2024-25. With 47,312 households on the waiting list at the end of March 2024, it will, effectively, address the needs of 0·85% of those households. We must, collectively, as an Executive and an Assembly, have the vision to deliver more social and affordable housing than ever before. We must then support success in that area by applying political will and vital resources.

We must secure multi-annual Budgets and strategically plan across all Departments for the longer term for housing delivery and homelessness prevention efforts, particularly with respect to Budget discussions. I call on the Minister for Communities to begin that process by publishing the housing supply strategy and urgently reconsidering the proposed departmental allocations that are allowing for a fall of 73·4% in our social home starts in the incoming year.