Cuts to the Supporting People Programme would have a damaging impact on housing security in deprived areas, Sinn Fein has claimed.

The party's housing spokesperson Carál Ní Chuilín was speaking as she met senior civil servants and pushed for urgent action on a range of issues, including Belfast City Council's decision to grant land earmarked for social housing to private developers.

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She said: "On Tuesday evening the Planning Committee in Belfast City Council took a decision to grant public land, in an area in dire need of social housing, to private developers.

"In this context, and against the backdrop of relentless Tory austerity, I also urged the authorities to prioritise vesting land in the years ahead to ensure that spiralling housing shortages are curbed.

"There is a pattern clearly emerging where citizens find it increasingly hard to make ends meet. Decisions like the one taken by the City Council’s Planning Committee do little to build public confidence that housing shortages, cuts to welfare and support, and a drought of community investment are being addressed."

(CD/MH)