Debate contribution: Unadopted Housing Developments and Roads

Debate contribution by Mr Tom Buchanan on 11 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Tom Buchanan

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

11 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Unadopted Housing Developments and Roads

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4668132

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank my colleagues tabling the motion. A lot of the issues have been covered, so I will be as brief as I can. Unadopted housing developments are a blight right across our constituencies, with unfinished footpaths and roadways posing a serious health and safety risk to homeowners and residents in these areas. Kerbs and manholes protrude above the base coat of tarmac, leaving potential trips and dangerous and hazardous conditions for the residents, including children, elderly people and all who reside in the area. Indeed, in many cases, council refuse lorries will not enter those developments in their unfinished conditions, meaning that homeowners have to take their bins to the entrance of the developments. I know, Minister, that you will agree that that is a totally unacceptable situation. Homeowners, who purchased their properties in good faith, with the expectation that the developments would be duly completed and adopted, are now left in a position where they cannot sell their property. Many, perhaps, are first-time purchasers who now want to move on and are unable to get a sale due to the unfinished condition of the development. When we contact the relevant authorities, we are told that it is now up to the homeowners to rectify the problem. I say to the Minister that the Department cannot simply wash its hands of the issue and leave it at the door of the homeowners. In my constituency, I have been dealing with a number of developments that have been sitting unfinished for years. In recent correspondence, the Minister informed me that, in the Omagh area alone, there are 76 unadopted developments. That is only one small area of the constituency of West Tyrone, and we are dealing with these unadopted developments right throughout the constituency, and, yet, developers are being let off the hook, and that should not be the case. Developers should not be let off the hook on this issue. When a developer comes into an area with a new development and gets planning permission for it, a bond is required. We have heard much about the bonds today. A bond is required by DFI and by NI Water, yet, on every occasion, when I request that DFI and NI Water use the bonds to make good the default, we are told that, on some of the developments, it is inadequate to cover the costs. Minister, I have to ask why. Why is a bond that is set by the Department inadequate to cover the costs when the developer defaults? I heard you say earlier that it is up to the developer to complete the development. That is absolutely right, but then there is a fallback position if the developer defaults: a bond. Yet, on a number of occasions, if the bond covers 25% of the work that is left to do, that seems to be the problem. I cannot for the life of me understand why the Department sets a bond that is so insufficient to cover a default when something like that happens. That leaves a situation where the bonds are not worth the paper that they are written on. I have contacted building control about inspecting the sewerage systems during installation. That is a role that building control officers have to play, but they only inspect the sewerage system within the curtilage of the property. When we take the main body of the sewerage and storm water systems, no checks are carried out during the laying of that pipework. In 99% of cases, it is the sewerage and storm water pipework that fails the test, which results in so many developments lying unfinished. Minister, that practice must change. Any bonds that are set must be sufficient to cover a default. There should be inspections during the laying of the sewerage and storm water pipework. NI Water has advised me that it does not do any inspections during the laying of the pipework. Again, the developer is getting off the hook and is not being held accountable. For one of the developments in Omagh, NI Water sent me a list of the defaults within the sewerage system, which is why the development cannot be adopted. NI Water has said that it does not have the money, and the bond is insufficient to repair the sewerage network in the area.

I thank the Member for her intervention. I urge the Minister to be more proactive in bringing forward plans for more meaningful enforcement against developers. We cannot simply continue with a situation where a developer builds the houses and sells them but defaults on the completion of the roadway, the footpaths and the lighting. The majority of the time, it is all down to the sewerage network being incomplete and insufficient. Therefore, stiffer legislation must be put in place to hold developers to account for that. If they do default, the money should be in the bond to bring it up to a sufficient standard.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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