The letter to Angela Rayner says housing in Northern Ireland is at crisis point and welcomes Labour’s plan to ‘turbocharge’ development
The Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations has written a letter to the housing secretary Angela Rayner, warning that Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP) budget “has been slashed to the point where we will be lucky to deliver 500 new homes.”
The representative body for 20 housing associations in Northern Ireland has said that housing in Northern Ireland is at crisis point, with a housing waiting list of 47,000.
Due to cuts to the Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP), they said they are unable to meet their target of building 2,000 new social homes per year.
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The letter, which was sent to Rayner on Monday, welcomes the new Labour government’s commitment to “turbocharging building of houses” and delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.
NIFHA said it has also written to the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communities requesting that any additional funding for Northern Ireland resulting from Barnett consequentials due to new housebuilding investments in England be specifically ringfenced for housing.
The letter ends by inviting Angela Rayner to visit Northern Ireland: “NIFHA would like to extend to you an invitation to visit NI to see the work housing associations are undertaking to provide quality homes and build strong communities.”
In Stormont’s budget in April, the Department for Communities (DfC) saw its capital budget cut by 38%, from £216m to £133m.
The capital budget is earmarked for investments in projects like housing development. The CIH Northern Ireland described the budget cut as a “devastating blow” which could result in 600 fewer social homes being built this year.
In the mini-budget announced on 1 July, the Northern Ireland Executive allocated a further £20m for new build social housing and £10m towards discretionary support and the Supporting People programme, as well as for homelessness interventions.
On the announcement, Justin Cartwright, director of CIH Northern Ireland, said: “while these funds are appreciated, it’s important to acknowledge that the Department for Communities continues to face a significant funding gap relative to the scale of the challenges at hand.”
Cartwright added: “We urge a continued focus on equitable funding for the Department for Communities to ensure that all the people of Northern Ireland have access to safe, affordable housing and the support they need to thrive.”
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