On Monday, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons announced the cuts, which collectively cut funding for social housing in half. As a result, these changes will almost certainly delay the building of new units. Beginning December 1, the federal grant that subsidizes housing authorities will decrease sharply. They will now be funded for an average of 46% of the full cost of building social homes, a cut from the previous 54%. This line re-drawing is troubling for many regions, such as South and West parts of Belfast. In actuality, that grant will only fund 42% of the construction costs there.
Acting on the behalf of the TNI, Lyons appeared in front of an Legislative Assembly scrutiny committee. Ferguson shared details of his frustrations with the continued negotiations with the Treasury. He said that these negotiations seem like “running around in circles.” He’s been met with “a brick wall” when trying to get borrowing powers for N Ireland’s Housing Executive. These challenges have played a role in his deeply-ingrained fears for the fate of social housing in Northern Ireland.
Almost 50,000 people are now on the waiting list for social housing. At the same time, nearly 1,000 homes are under construction. This is well below the target that has been set by Stormont, of which just 5,800 new homes a year should be completed.
Lyons emphasized that these funding changes, despite their challenges, are intended to “achieve better value and more social homes for those who need them.” Opposition figures such as Mark H Durkan have been highly critical of the decision. They claim it will lead to the building of far fewer new homes and a deterioration in the quality of social housing already in existence.
“It’s hard to see how cutting their funding will achieve anything other than fewer homes being built.” – Mark H Durkan
A UK government spokesman responded robustly to criticism of the strategy. The three highlighted that last year’s spending review granted the executive an unprecedented settlement of nearly £19.3 billion annually. Despite planning for a funding influx, though, local officials are still doubtful that this money will be able to meet the high needs of a growing community.
Agnes Crawford, of another affected interested stakeholder, Infrastructure UK, underlined that the funding cuts mean a move towards more private finance. She cautioned that this change might make places like Oldham more expensive, putting upward pressure on rents in locations already facing high social deprivation.
Even as Lyons continues to pursue these thorny issues, he hasn’t given up on social housing—though the winds have shifted. He’s excited, too, that the funding shifts can allow for a much streamlined process of getting more needed homes built.
