She raised concerns with the Department for Infrastructure following indications that a significant reduction in the NI Water budget could result in an inability to connect new builds.

The Strangford MLA has said: “The number of people presenting as homeless due to the lack of suitable accommodation across Northern Ireland is rising at a deeply alarming rate.

“In NI, over 45,000 people are currently on the waiting list for social housing. Any barrier to delivering enough homes to meet this demand will place even more people in unideal temporary accommodation situations, and further continue a downward spiral of crisis. We have already seen a reduction in the number of new social homes as a result of the restricted budget brought in by the Secretary of State.

“Everyone deserves safe, secure, and stable housing. I am calling on the Head of the Civil Service to ensure all departments produce an impact report showing how NICS consider the inter-departmental implications of one department’s decisions, only exampled by DfI’s limit on NI Water threatening to delay crucial NI Housing Strategy targets from being achieved.

“A cut in one area has a ripple effect across other departments and this must be fully recognised and considered at each decision-making juncture.”