11th March 2026
Simon Community has provided an update on plans to temporarily relocate its Young Person Service for 18-25 year olds from Malone Road, South Belfast to Glen Road, West Belfast.
For more than 20 years, our dedicated Young Person Service has operated from a building on the Malone Road. However, the property is no longer safe to live in. Persistent leaks and significant structural issues mean it now requires a full and urgent refurbishment. These works will take approximately two years, during which the young people currently living there cannot safely remain.
We had originally planned to move the service into the Glen Road property in December 2025. In response to community concerns, we paused the move to allow for further engagement, information sharing and discussion. Our current building must be vacated by mid-March. Without an alternative in place, the 26 young people living there will lose their home, and we will be forced to separate them from each other and from the support staff they rely on.
Over the last three months, this pause has allowed us to focus on listening to the community. We have met with schools, elected representatives, community groups, residents and many other local voices. We also held a multi agency roundtable discussion in late February, and the outcomes from that conversation are now available in a full report.
This time has allowed us to understand concerns clearly and to address them where we can. We are grateful to everyone who met with us, asked questions and has taken the opportunity to learn more about how the service will work.
Following these discussions, and ongoing conversations with community representatives, we are now beginning to move into the Glen Road site. This decision has not been taking lightly and reflects both the needs of the young people in our care and our commitment to ensuring the local community continues to feel safe and informed.
We hope the three-month pause has helped ease concerns and given people the space they needed to engage. We know some questions may remain, and our engagement does not end here. We are keen to keep working with the community and with our new neighbours in the weeks and months ahead.
Our plan is to move in slowly and gradually, and our staff are available - both on the Glen Road site or through our Belfast main office - whenever needed. We hope that as we settle in, remaining concerns can be addressed through continued conversation and by seeing firsthand how the service operates day to day.
The Glen Road building offers:
• An enclosed and secure site
• Self-contained units for privacy and independence
• Proximity to transport, education and employment
• Space for a calm, stable, medium-term residential environment
Our extensive experience running this service in South Belfast gives us confidence we can manage it safely and successfully in this temporary location.
Placing young people at the heart of our decision-making is essential. As one young resident, Meabh*, 22, explained:
“For young people like us, having somewhere safe to live isn’t just about a bed. It’s about the door with the lock on it. And being part of a community that accepts you makes all the difference. Feeling accepted gives you the capacity to move forward in your life.
“I want people to know that the situations that bring someone to homelessness are not as far away as most people think. No matter how well you’re doing, you’re only ever a few steps away. One day this service could be needed by someone you care about.
“Homelessness is not a choice, and it’s not a life sentence. I’m not looking for sympathy - I’m asking for a chance. The same chance every young person deserves.”
We remain committed to being open, transparent and a good neighbour. Since summer 2025, we have engaged with schools, elected representatives, community groups and local residents.
Activity has included:
• Two open days at the Glen Road site in December 2025 and January 2026 with over 60 attendees
• Meetings with community groups and representatives
• Property adjustments based on community feedback, including window frosting, restrictors and enhanced CCTV
• A multi agency roundtable discussion in late February.
You can read the full report following this community engagement, including outcomes from the roundtable discussion here.
Jim Dennison, Chief Executive of Simon Community said:
“We operate more than 20 accommodation services safely across towns and cities in Northern Ireland, many in residential neighbourhoods and near schools. We simply could not do this if community safety and safeguarding were not deeply ingrained in our processes.
“I want to reassure the local community again that this is not a drop-in service or an emergency shelter. It’s a medium-term residential service where young people live for an extended period - typically 12 to 18 months, and sometimes for the full two years the service is in place.”
When refurbishment is complete, the young people’s service will return to its home on Malone Road.
Across Northern Ireland, 62,888 people are officially classified as homeless - around one in every 31 people. This figure has more than doubled over the past decade. West Belfast is particularly impacted, with approximately 7,000 people currently experiencing homelessness, the second highest figure in the region (after Foyle).
Questions, concerns or requests for further information are very welcome, and Simon Community strongly encourages anyone who wishes to engage to get in touch – feedback@simoncommunity.org
*name changed to protect client.