Urgent action needed to prevent crisis in Northern Ireland social housing, says report

The report, published on Monday, calls for “urgent action” to prevent a crisis in the supply of social housing, which decreased steadily to a current level of 130,000 homes.

To solve the crisis the House of Commons Northern Ireland affairs committee proposed that social building in the Province should effectively be nationalised, with responsibility taken from housing associations and passed to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. The NIHE would also be given powers to borrow private funds to invest in new housebuilding.

The NIHE says there were around 12,000 fewer social housing properties in 2003/4 than there in 2001/2. Currently 26,700 people are seeking social housing.

The report said a “balance of supply and demand needs to be achieved as a matter of urgency” and criticised the government for not reviewing the policy of right to buy.

MPs blamed the decline in social housing on a rise in the number of right-to-buy sales and a failure to meet new build targets – principally by the Province’s 40 housing associations.

Tony Ruddy, chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing Northern Ireland board and director of ARK Housing Association, said giving housebuilding powers to NIHE was not the answer. “Housing associations are highly unlikely to meet the target of building 1300 homes by the end of March. There are currently only 300 units on site. We need to see joined-up thinking. Handing over responsibility to the NIHE is not the answer,” he said.

“Housing associations should not be seen as solely to blame. The department of social development, planning authorities, the NIHE and housing associations all have a role to play.

“We are expected to spend only 15 months developing a housing scheme and this is impossible. We also have to contend with escalating land costs and the fact that where there is demand there is no land.”

An NIHE spokesman said: “It is not protocol to formally respond at this time. We are awaiting a response from the Government.”