A formal complaint has been submitted to the Equality Commission and the Human Rights Commission in relation to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's (NIHE) failure to redress gross housing inequalities in North Belfast.

Sinn Féin housing spokesperson, Carál Ní Chuilin, also formally complained to the NIHE following a chronic failure to tackle this problem on the basis of objective need.

She said: "I have called on the Equality Commission to use their statutory duty to ensure that equality in housing provision on objective need is achieved in North Belfast.

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"The United Nations on no less than three separate occasions have intervened and expressed their concern about the failure to stem housing inequalities, which continue to grow.

"However, the Housing Executive has continued to fail families by not expressing any interest in sites that could be used to develop social housing in North Belfast in particular those from the Catholic/Nationalist community.

"Housing Executive statistics from 2016 demonstrate that 938 homes are needed for families from the Catholic/Nationalist community from a figure of 1,700.

"The Housing Executive have failed to provide any suggestions on how this gap is going to be closed and have done nothing to address the criticisms and concerns raised by the United Nations, the Equality Commission, the Human Rights Commission and the Commissioner for Children and Young People."

(CD/LM)