Northern Ireland Executive must secure Westminster funding to build 50,000 homes, opposition says

The motion also called on the executive to “recognise the multitude of challenges” in providing access to safe, sustainable and affordable housing by declaring a housing emergency.

Mr McCrossan, MLA for West Tyrone, said: “There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a serious housing emergency in the North that will only get worse in the years ahead without urgent, decisive action. 

“Our social housing waiting list sits at over 47,000, many first-time buyers have zero prospect of getting on the housing ladder and rents are getting more expensive all the time. 

“In many areas, more and more properties are being bought up for use as second homes or Airbnbs, pricing young people out of their communities, while others have been left lying vacant for years.”

Mr McCrosson said this year will see “just hundreds of new social houses built”.

The latest data showed that social housing completions in Northern Ireland more than halved in the three months to the end of June 2024 compared with the same period in 2023-24. 

Housing bodies warned in June of “grave concerns” over the Department for Communities (DfC) only being able to fund up to 400 new social home starts in 2024-25, a fall of 73%.

The DfC’s capital funding was cut by 38% in Northern Ireland’s budget in May.

Mr McCrosson said private housing developments are “being held up by the underinvestment in wastewater infrastructure” and “as these problems mount the executive is doing little to address them”. 

It emerged in April that an estimated 19,000 homes in Northern Ireland are unable to proceed because of a lack of wastewater capacity.

Mr McCrosson said: “What we need to see now is executive ministers working together to address these issues and we believe that the first step is recognition of the serious housing emergency we are facing.

“The SDLP’s proposal is an ambitious plan to build 50,000 homes by 2032. This can be partly paid for through a commitment that any Barnett consequential funding from house building in England and Wales be ringfenced to build new homes here.

“This is not a problem that is going to be solved overnight, but is an important start if we want to deliver everyone in the North with a decent standard of home.”

The Northern Ireland Executive has been contacted for comment. 

Last week, Homeless Connect called for “sustained” funding to tackle the homelessness crisis in the country.