Debate contribution: Housing Emergency

Debate contribution by Ms Kellie Armstrong on 15 October 2024.

MLA

Ms Kellie Armstrong

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

15 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Housing Emergency

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4592671

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I make my contribution today feeling quite frustrated. It will not shock the SDLP, but we support the motion. It is, however, only part of the solution to our housing crisis. We know that we have a housing crisis. The Minister agreed in the House that there is a housing crisis, but asking a Minister to declare a housing emergency will not resolve the problem. Yesterday, a number of us met experts in the housing field. They set out to us the barriers to our housing programme, and those are as follows: Northern Ireland Water (NIW) is blocking development, because, as we all know, there are no cranes without drains; power connection delays from Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) are preventing developments; there are planning delays owing to red tape, which breaks people's hearts when developers are trying to build developments; and there is a lack of local development plans from our councils. We lack construction workers, because skilled people here are disappearing off down South or across the water for jobs or because we are not training enough people in the skills that are needed for the future of housing. We spend too much money on crisis rather than prevention of homelessness. Private rentals have halved in number since 2019. We know that all that is happening. The issue has been outlined in the Programme for Government, so the Executive are looking at it, but I go a step further to say that it is time for action. We need short-, medium- and long-term actions. To be honest, those were set out in the draft housing supply strategy 2022-37 that was consulted on. We have a long-term housing supply strategy. My frustration is that the Minister has said, on a number of occasions, "I am about to bring forward the housing supply strategy and get it published". What is the delay? I want to hear the answer today. If we all know what all the barriers and problems are, what is the delay in getting the housing supply strategy published? There is no excuse for the delays any more. The strategy was written a while ago. If the Minister wants to put his fingerprints all over it, well and good, but get it published. As soon as it is published, it can influence future Budget planning, and other Ministers will know exactly what their role is in fixing the housing crisis. Short-term things that we should bring forward include improving existing homes so that we do not have people living in premises that have mould or damp. We need to instruct the Housing Executive to stop selling homes in a crisis. We need to change the legislation and get it moved forward. We need to use the time now to ensure that all the barriers are identified and to get buy-in across the whole Executive so that each Minister will play their role in taking the barriers away. For instance, where is the infrastructure commission? That has been talked about for a while. We desperately need people to have a look at Northern Ireland Water to find out what the heck is going on, because, if we cannot build houses, we will add to the 80,000 people who are without a home to call their own.

Thank you. Developers are already contributing. In my constituency, a pumping station worth £1·3 million has been put in to service a private development. They are already doing it. In the meeting that we had yesterday with the experts in their field, it was clear that they were saying the same: developers are already doing it. However, we need Northern Ireland Water to confirm the type of pipes that developers need to connect into so that the system can work. We need a clear, honest approach to housing. It becomes more and more frustrating to hear people say, "We must throw money at the problem". If the Minister had a billion pounds today to build houses, he could not do it because of the barriers: Northern Ireland Water, the lack of development plans and all the problems that are there.

Thank you for that, Mr McCrossan, but I say, "Back at you", because, to be frank, Nichola Mallon was the previous Infrastructure Minister, and she did not sort out Northern Ireland Water. We are living with the consequences of that. Another reason why the housing crisis is so acute is the continued division of our society. Housing for all has not progressed as much as was originally intended. Housing developments should be open to all, enabling inclusive communities where people live together irrespective of age, disability, race, religion, cultural background, sexuality or gender. Where are our mixed-tenure plans? Where are our shared housing plans? In some areas, we find that, if a person's face does not fit, graffiti is painted on their home, and posters threatening maintenance crews are erected. The rise in intimidation is appalling. In my constituency, we have suffered from the disgusting antics of bully-boy loyalist paramilitary groups who want only people whom they can control to have access to social homes. The number of people who are forced into crime by those gangs is a dreadful indictment of the failure to end paramilitarism, as we discussed earlier. Prostitution of girls and boys, drugs, black market cigarettes and alcohol, and paramilitary lending leave many tenants feeling abandoned to the criminals who think that they control housing estates. We should concentrate on providing a better society. A housing supply strategy with clear objectives and time-bound targets is needed now.

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

Assessment

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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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