4 days ago
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
‘We need a multi-year budget': NI housing group warns funding uncertainty could hinder efforts to address crisis
According to NIFHA, a total of 1,410 new-build homes were completed by housing associations across the region in 2024/25.
It added that the completed homes, all of which are already tenanted, exceeded the target of 1,400.
Construction, meanwhile, has begun on 1,504 new homes.
It comes after a challenging year for housing associations, which began with projections that just 500 new-starts would be possible due to budget constraints.
Chief Executive of NIFHA Seamus Leheny said: 'It is far from ideal for housing associations to operate in an environment where they do not know their budget allocation until well past the midpoint of the financial year.
'At one stage it looked like only about 500 homes would be budgeted for, but housing associations have been working hard on the ground, actively building for the future, continuing to find sites and build new homes.
'Their commitment has been instrumental in reaching this year's targets, despite the many obstacles they face.'
The more recent statistics show that the number of households with homelessness status in NI continues to rise
On March 31, there were 49,083 households on the social housing waiting list, with 31,719 of those households having homelessness status.
Mr Leheny said that in order to address the current housing crisis, a multi-year budget is required.
The Programme for Government includes a target of 5,850 new social homes by 2027, meaning more than 2,000 new-starts each year.
However, officials have warned the target is unlikely to be met under current budget constraints.
Current projections suggest as few as 1,000 new-starts next year without additional funding.
Mr Leheny said that current budgets 'fall far short of what we need to be building to address the huge housing waiting list'.
'We need a multi-year housing budget, which gives [NIFHA] the ability to plan and construct around 2,200 homes every year,' he added.
'We have seen the NI Executive give commitment to housing in the Programme for Government, but unless we see direct support in the social housing budget and action on the wastewater issue, this commitment means little.
'There is still a lot of uncertainty ahead, including seeing how the wastewater issues are resolved, the ongoing impact of inflation on the price of materials, and the increased national insurance costs on labour.'
Nicola McCrudden, CEO of Homeless Connect, said that the provision of social housing is 'fundamentally important' to public policy.
'Social housing is central to achieving so many people's main aspirations and is centrally important to addressing homelessness,' she said.
'Simply put, you cannot prevent homelessness without an adequate supply of social housing.
'Failure over several years to properly invest in new social housing, and the infrastructure required to support it, is leaving many households struggling to find an affordable home or having to stay for lengthy periods in temporary accommodation.'
Ms McCrudden added that meeting the target set out in the Programme for Government will require a higher number of new housing starts each year.
'The Department for Communities has recently indicated that the initial capital allocations provided to it will only allow for up to 1,000 new social homes' she added.
'This is not enough to turn the curve on the rising need for temporary accommodation.
'We will continue to advocate for the Executive to live up to the commitment it has made to this society in the Programme for Government.'
A spokesperson for the Department for Communities (DfC) said that minister Gordon Lyons 'supports the need for multi-year budgets, which would allow some clarity of funding'.
They added: 'DfC received an allocation of £100m specifically for the Social Housing Development Programme.
'This is being used to fund commitments carried into the 2025/26 financial year, of £105m from schemes that commenced in previous years.
'In addition, the minister has allocated over 80% of his remaining available capital funding to new-builds, with a further allocation of £63m.'
