Housing needs more than political words and promises – it needs funding

“A devasting blow” … “unfathomable” … “an axe to the sector” …. These are all comments from housing professionals in response to the recent capital budget announcements, and it is hard to argue against their view.

It has been said many times before, but it is true – we are experiencing a housing crisis like no other.

The housing budget has been cut by approximately 80 per cent and will see the development of a maximum 400 new homes in 2024/25 and some housing professionals feel that it may drop as low as 200; when the housing waiting list is at a 10 year high with over 47,000 people looking a home – many of whom are experiencing homelessness and uncertainty impacting their wellbeing. In this context the lack of investment in new social housing is deeply concerning for both those on the waiting list (some for over 10 years) and for housing professionals working in the sector.

We are all aware of the pressures on the public purse, but this cut is disproportionate and at complete odds to the minster stating publicly that ‘housing is the number one priority in his department’.

The last four years have seen 2,403, 1,713, 1,956 and 1,506 new social homes started in Northern Ireland. If this budget is the final allocation of money for new starts, 1,106 fewer social homes will be started in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24, a huge fall of 73.4 per cent. This means that between 2020/21 and 2024/25, there will be fewer than 8,000 new homes delivered. If the rate of 400 per annum continued over the next four years that would mean less than 10,000 homes delivered in the decade between 2020/21 and 2030/31.

Another facet to this devasting narrative is the number of children living in temporary accommodation. A recent report by the Department for Communities showed that in April of this year there were 5,106 children living in in temporary accommodation. The largest proportion of these children were aged under five years old (40 per cent). Consequently, this has led to a significant increase in the amount spent on temporary accommodation provided by the private rented sector and in B&Bs and hotels. It has risen sixfold from £5.8 million in 2018/19 to £34.5 million in 2023/24, and does not include accommodation provided by the voluntary sector funded through the Supporting People Programme.

Living in temporary accommodation is disruptive for schooling and education and has impacts for mental health and wellbeing. Speak to any housing professional and they will tell you that housing isn’t just about ‘bricks and mortar’. It begins with a roof over someone’s head, but extends far beyond that, into a collaborative effort which supports individuals and families. Houses can be designed and built, but communities are developed and nurtured and that’s what our dedicated housing professionals do in Northern Ireland.

The private sector can, and do, support house building in Northern Ireland, but there is still a significant shortage of properties. This is impacting on rents, up 10 per cent in the private sector in the last year – the highest in the UK. The majority of banks lend into the social housing sector and at scale, however, many in the sector say that they need public funding alongside the private sector to make numbers add up.

English providers have had to develop private sale homes to make models work, but there have been mixed results with some pushing too far with disastrous consequences, which has seen the Regulator force mergers and acquisitions to avoid associations going under.

The Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) recently held a round table with Hilary Benn the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland; his opening line to us was “housing is the number one issue in my constituency” so we are not alone in our issues. Housing is the perennial number one issue down south. It’s left many people commuting four hours a day, and rental increases stripping people’s disposable income. A housing shortage is made worse by a fast growing population, up 3.5 per cent last year – the highest on record.

The financial crash and the period of austerity that followed in Ireland meant that numerous housing projects were left unfinished, and the state failed to build enough social housing. That said they are taking devise action under its ‘Housing for All’ plan; the Irish government currently aims to have an average of 33,000 new homes provided each year between 2021 and 2030. Wouldn’t it be great if we had such bold ambition in Northern Ireland?

It is often said ‘How a society treats its most vulnerable is always the measure of its humanity’, with a housing waiting list at a record high and over 5,000 people in temporary accommodation, we are indeed failing our most vulnerable.

If housing is to be a priority it needs to be adequately funded and prioritised. An 80 per cent cut to the capital budget certainly doesn’t reflect those ambitions. Any housing professional will talk passionately about their sector and the impact that it makes on society, with this latest funding announcement, we are not only failing them, but also the 47,000 people in Northern Ireland on our waiting list.