A report has called for a reversal of cuts to the social housing capital budget and reform of NI Water in order to “prevent an escalation” of Northern Ireland’s housing and homelessness crisis.
Published by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) the report calls on the Department for Communities and Department for Infrastructure to take a series of “vital preventative measures”.
Recommendations include calls for ministers to take immediate action to address infrastructure challenges that “threaten future housing growth, accelerate Northern Ireland’s progress towards net-zero housing, and secure sustainable capital financing for housing development”.
Justin Cartwright, national director of CIH Northern Ireland, said: “The housing and homelessness crisis requires bold, immediate action, and this manifesto report lays out a clear roadmap for government to overcome the identified challenges.”
The report urges Stormont to “explore potential reforms” enabling NI Water to access the “capital needed to support future housing developments and infrastructure projects”.
It also “emphasises the urgent need for substantial increases in capital funding dedicated to housing”.
In the letter sent to the minister for communities, Gordon Lyons MLA, CIH NI has also expressed its concern over the north’s sluggish progress towards net-zero housing, highlighting the critical need for the Department for Communities to prioritise this issue.
It called for the “urgent” establishment of a dedicated fund to reduce carbon emissions in the housing sector.
