Debate contribution: Housing Emergency

Debate contribution by Mrs Ciara Ferguson on 15 October 2024.

MLA

Mrs Ciara Ferguson

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

15 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Housing Emergency

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4592651

Read the official Assembly record

Text

In my capacity as Sinn Féin housing spokesperson, I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. Housing is a human right that is recognised in international human rights law as part of the right to an adequate standard of living. What connects all our people here — our workers and families — with us, as public representatives, is our being united on the fact that everyone deserves a safe place that they can call home. First, I acknowledge the formidable front-line housing and homelessness prevention providers who operate locally, day in and day out, to provide vital person-centred wrap-around support for those who are being failed by our housing system. I also acknowledge the many organisations that provide housing advice. As we move forward in tackling housing once and for all, it is critical that, as a matter of urgency, they are placed on a longer-term sustainable funding model. The situation that we are facing can be described as a perfect storm, as we face challenges right across not only our social housing sector but all housing tenures. Those challenges include shortages of social housing; a decline in suitable secure and affordable private rentals; continued increases in house prices, which, even in my constituency of Derry, average £180,000 for a first-time buyer; and growing levels of homelessness. The most commonly cited reasons for homelessness include accommodation no longer being reasonable, sharing breakdowns and loss of private rented accommodation. On the last point, the onus is on the Minister for Communities to act to end no-fault evictions in the private rented sector and to work to support the banning of unjustifiable letting fees. Work must also be progressed to introduce rent regulations, as provided for in the Private Tenancies Act 2022, alongside work to significantly improve housing fitness standards. Many of the longer-term challenges mentioned today are inextricably linked with the impacts of 14 years of Tory austerity, which has decimated our public services, destroyed our living standards and demoralised those who work at the coalface of our housing system. However, we have a draft housing supply strategy that sets out the strategic context and has five core objectives relating to the creation of affordable homes; homelessness prevention and intervention efforts; improving housing quality; building thriving communities, including through shared, mixed-tenure developments; and decarbonisation. The draft strategy enshrines a cross-departmental approach that prioritises housing, from infrastructure and land needs to capital investment, and sets out proposals for long-term policies and interventions. The Minister for Communities should act urgently to publish the housing supply strategy. We also have a Programme for Government that takes us to 2027 and sets a direction for the remainder of the mandate that rightly includes increasing housing supply and tackling homelessness. The Programme for Government acknowledges that good housing and health and well-being are interdependent and that access to housing is relevant to educational attainment, job opportunities, thriving communities, sustaining our rural communities and maintaining people's stability so that they can thrive. We are all responsible for housing. Housing delivery requires collaborative working across central and local government as well as the third sector and private sector, as we often see housing information through our local development plans.

Sorry. I just want to get through. In the first instance, we should also look to the significant expertise that already exists across our housing sector, such as in the Housing Executive's place-shaping teams, in planning departments, in building control departments and in our construction industry. Where there is weak capacity, we should build and strengthen it. Significant work has been progressed in individual Departments. For example, last week, Conor Murphy launched a consultation on low-carbon heating technologies in residential buildings, and that consultation is open to the public until 31 December. Nonetheless, we need to collaborate continually across our 11 local councils and nine Departments on the issue of housing. The Executive and the Assembly have a collective vision of access to a secure, adequate and affordable place to call home for everyone. We know that our housing system must urgently be rebalanced to place an emphasis on the delivery of not-for-profit and affordable public homes on public land for the public good. We know that housing supply and delivery will benefit significantly —

— from multi-annual budgeting, as it will from the recruitment of vital staff.

720 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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