Northern Ireland remains in the grip of an acute housing crisis. The government’s budget for new social homes doesn’t even come close to addressing the massive demand. Seamus Leheny, the chief executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, stated that the region “is in the grip of a deepening housing crisis.” This year’s budget will pay for the construction of just over 1,000 new social houses. This is in stark contrast to the government’s commitment to deliver a minimum of 5,850 new builds by 2027.
A fresh monitoring round, due later this month, should provide a clearer picture of how much money there will be to spend on new homes. A cloud of uncertainty hangs over how these resources will be prioritized. The Department of Communities, led by Minister Gordon Lyons, has committed to “putting the same effort into driving up these figures this year as we did last year.” This closing statement hints at the possibility of more funds being dedicated to address our massive social housing deficit.
Last year’s budget only funded 400 new housing starts. Combined with the Department’s full capital budget of about £270 million, the vast majority of that money is already committed to current projects. To stay on track with the very ambitious Programme for Government target, they would need £62 million more! The upcoming monitoring rounds could provide an avenue for budget adjustments, but details on funding are still scarce.
The social housing waiting list goes up every month and this is not just a worry, but the reality today. 49,083 households in Northern Ireland were on the waiting list in just the first quarter of this year alone. Leheny emphasized the consequences of insufficient funding: “The social housing waiting list grows every year – yet once again, the budget for new social homes falls woefully short. But that’s still less than half of what’s necessary to start making a dent on that backlog.”
Oddly enough, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons admitted as much. He underscored the Department’s focus on getting the most out of our current dollars. “We need to figure out how to do more with the money we have to build more homes,” he stated. While Lyons expressed optimism about new funding opportunities, Leheny articulated the urgency for concrete plans rather than delayed actions: “While the minister’s talk of new approaches is welcome, we need to see concrete plans now – not another year of delay.”
Northern Ireland stakeholders—state, local, and regional—need to move quickly to identify and implement short-term fixes. This measure is necessary to stop any additional worsening of the housing crisis from going unchecked. Leheny cautioned against lingering in a state of uncertainty: “We can’t afford to be in the same position this time next year, still waiting for action, with uncertainty for social housing builders and a growing waiting list.”
