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Northern Ireland Government cuts social housing target
Northern Ireland’s target for new social housing has been cut due to the region’s continuing political impasse.
The 2017/18 target has been reduced from 2,000 starts to 1,750 as political parties are still yet to form a power-sharing government nearly three months on from an Assembly election on 2 March.
Sector leaders warned that the target was in jeopardy due to the lack of a functioning Executive in Stormont last month.
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The Northern Ireland Department for Communities (DfC) said it has lowered the target because its capital budget – from which the region’s social housing sector receives its grant funding – is £36m smaller than last year.
Northern Ireland is currently running on a compromised budget controlled by civil servants.
A DfC spokesperson said: “Given this reduced financial position, the target for the Social Housing Development Programme for this year [2017/18] is 1,750. While this is higher than last year’s figure of 1,600, it falls short of the 2,000 annual starts that the department would aspire to deliver.”
The statement said it “would still hope to deliver” on a 9,600 social housebuilding target by 2021, set by the last Executive in November 2016.
It added that it has allocated “the bulk of the remainder” of capital funding left over from committed and flagship projects for housing, leaving £106m available for social new builds.
Nicola McCrudden, director of the Chartered Institute of Housing Northern Ireland, said it was “very disappointing” that the target had been cut but welcomed the DfC’s decision to commit most of its capital budget to housing.
Jennie Donald, deputy chief executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, said “the delays in confirming the funding position due to the political situation” would impact on this year’s development programme in the region.
Sources told Inside Housing it was unlikely that the Conservatives’ pact agreed with the Democratic Unionist Party on Monday – which will see Northern Ireland receive an extra £1bn in funding over the next two years – would have a further effect on build targets given the continued absence of an Executive.
