Debate contribution: First-time Buyers: Support

Debate contribution by Ms Sian Mulholland on 3 February 2025.

MLA

Ms Sian Mulholland

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

3 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

First-time Buyers: Support

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4774623

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I really welcome the chance to speak on the motion. It is on an issue that I see time and again in my constituency office: the lack of housing in general but particularly for first-time buyers, especially young people. There are two interconnected issues. First, house prices are too high — we know that — owing to a chronic lack of supply exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis and not-fit-for-purpose waste water infrastructure. Secondly, first-time buyers face an even steeper hill to climb because they do not have existing housing equity to leverage, unlike those who are already on the property ladder and can sell one home to help fund the next. The root of the problem is a major housing shortage; we know that. Whilst the Minister for Communities has an important role to play, this has to be considered as a shared responsibility. The Department for Infrastructure has to take responsibility for the persistent failures in waste water infrastructure that are simply stifling housing development. Approximately 19,000 housing units cannot be connected due to a capacity issue. That is an enormous number of potential homes sitting in limbo. Every delay only adds to the supply problem, which, in turn, drives up prices and makes it even more difficult for first-time buyers. The current funding model for NI Water is a major obstacle. The previous Minister for Infrastructure insisted that the model was fit for purpose, but industry experts, the Northern Ireland Audit Office and NI Water all say otherwise. Then there is the direct affordability challenge for first-time buyers. Prices continue to rise due to the supply-and-demand imbalance. In August 2024, it was estimated that a first-time buyer in Northern Ireland needed a deposit of £17,300. In the current economic climate, with the cost of rent, food, energy and transport continuing to rise, how can anyone be expected to scrape that together? The days of 100% mortgages are long gone. That has led, unsurprisingly, to Northern Ireland having the highest proportion of anywhere in the UK of young adults aged 25 to 35 who live with a parent: 23% compared with the UK average of 18%. That is a staggering statistic. It highlights, once again, how far behind the times we are in addressing the everyday realities of our young people. The challenges that first-time buyers face cannot be tackled by the Department for Communities in isolation; it is a cross-departmental issue. I support the call for a comprehensive package of interventions to be part of that solution, but unless we fix the structural issues that limit housing supply and improve economic conditions for first-time buyers, those interventions will only be a sticking plaster.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:55 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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