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NIHE to be reclassified as mutual, minister announces
Northern Ireland’s housing authority will be restructured to become a mutual, the region’s housing minister has announced.
As part of a lengthy statement on her government’s plans for housing policy in the Northern Ireland Assembly today, communities minister Carál Ní Chuilín promised to “revitalise” the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE).
She said: “I plan to change the classification of the Housing Executive landlord to a ‘mutual’ or co-operative designation so that it may borrow and secure a sustainable future for all of its 85,000 homes and provides security for current tenants and future generations.”
Doing so will mean separating the landlord operations of the NIHE from the regional part – which handles allocations and homelessness services and administers grant – she added.
The NIHE is currently facing a funding crisis since its large stock is in need of an estimated £7.1bn investment over the next 30 years, but the body is only able to afford around half that and is unable to take on extra debt.
It previously warned it may need to start “de-investing” in around half its homes from this year if a solution is not found.
Ms Ní Chuilín said today that without reform, the choice “would be either to lose 40,000 of our old social homes or the next 11 years of new social development”.
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Some housing associations across the UK operate a mutual structure – where employees and residents co-own the organisation – including Rochdale Boroughwide Housing and Merthyr Valleys Homes.
“We can learn from models of best practice, we can avoid the pitfalls that other models have experienced, and ultimately we can build a model that is effective and meets the needs of tenants here,” the minister told assembly members.
Elsewhere in her speech, Ms Ní Chuilín revealed that the government will reintroduce ringfenced funding for new social housing “to ensure that those areas, such as North and West Belfast and Derry City, and all areas of acute housing need are prioritised”.
She also announced her intention to introduce a new intermediate rent product in Northern Ireland.
The minister also confirmed that she does not intend to remove intimidation points from the allocations system.
Civil servants proposed scrapping intimidation points in a consultation launched in 2017 during a prolonged period of political stasis in Northern Ireland, over concerns that they are open to abuse.
But officials are now exploring the possibility of a statutory body independently verifying intimidation cases, Ms Ní Chuilín said.
Among other announcements, the minister said a consultation on the future of the House Sales Scheme for the NIHE – as the Right to Buy is called in Northern Ireland – will come forward in November, and that legislation will be tabled to extend eviction notice periods from four weeks up to six months.
Justin Cartwright, national director for Northern Ireland at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “The minister’s plans to classify the Housing Executive’s landlord side as a mutual or co-operative is very welcome news.
“It would enable them to borrow and invest in homes that require repairs – all tenants deserve to live in decent homes. At the same time it would promote tenants being involved in their housing service.
“We also welcome the move to introduce intermediate rent in Northern Ireland, something that we have called for. It could mean more affordable choices for lower-income families, particularly those who struggle to access social housing.”
Ben Collins, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, welcomed the announcement of NIHE reform and added: “As the driver of new build social and affordable homes, we are particularly happy that the minister’s commitment to increasing the budget and policy change to support new build.
“To implement all this work there will need to be a continued ability to set rents at an affordable level, to enable the housing sector to pay back borrowing and to invest in existing stock and tenant support.
“We will work with the minister and the Housing Executive on the implementation of the allocations review. Reform must better facilitate delivering sustainable tenancies and balanced communities.”
