Debate contribution: First-time Buyers: Support

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 3 February 2025.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

3 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

First-time Buyers: Support

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4774633

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I appreciate the comments that have been made in the debate. One thing that most of us can agree on is that homeownership is a shared aspiration that resonates deeply with many of us. It represents more than just bricks and mortar. It offers security, stability and the foundation for building a future. It provides the chance to put down roots, foster strong communities and enhance people's health and well-being. That is why I am firmly committed to making home ownership accessible to all. Evidence shows that the first-time buyer market remains strong in Northern Ireland, but I understand that for some, especially our young people, the dream of owning a home can seem increasingly out of reach. High house prices, limited supply and the challenge of saving for a deposit can leave people feeling as though they are locked out of the housing market. I am determined to provide, where it is needed, the necessary support to overcome those barriers. In the past five years, my Department has provided more than £150 million to co-ownership, helping over 4,000 households, most of them first-time buyers, to become homeowners. More than 10,000 households are buying their home through co-ownership. Saving up for a deposit is often one of the biggest challenges that people face when buying a home. For working people on lower incomes, it can feel impossible. Buying through co-ownership means that deposit requirements are significantly lower than they are when buying with a traditional mortgage. In many cases, there are no deposit requirements at all. That can be life-changing for anyone who desperately wants to own their own home but struggles, month to month, to save what they need. Co-ownership and its support for first-time buyers has been an important feature of our housing market for decades. Without it, many more people would find themselves trapped in the private rented sector or forced to live with family or friends. Its track record is impressive, having helped over 33,000 people into homeownership since opening. Ensuring that that crucial initiative continues to receive the funding that it needs is one of my top priorities. In proposing the motion, the SDLP called for the introduction of further schemes to help first-time buyers, including the roll-out of an equity share help-to-buy scheme. However, lessons from other places teach us that simply putting more money into the hands of first-time buyers just inflates house prices. The schemes may help people on to the first step of the housing ladder at first, but, very soon, that first step just becomes even more unaffordable. I find myself repeating this: the answer lies in increasing housing supply. We need to increase the number of houses that we build. That will reduce pressure across the whole housing system, including for first-time buyers. That is where we should focus our collective efforts. The Executive's housing supply strategy, published in December, provides a 15-year framework for the transformational change required to deliver increased supply across all tenures. It recognises that housing affordability is a growing problem. The first objective in the strategy is to ensure that we deliver more affordable supply and new products across all tenures. Work is under way to set up cross-departmental structures to develop the first short-term action plan. That work will consider the range of actions to be prioritised over the next few years and align to the five strategy objectives.

I will give way to the Member.

I agree with the Member; in fact, the impact that Airbnbs are having on housing in Northern Ireland has been raised many times in the Chamber, particularly how they are driving up costs in some of our tourist hotspots. I had a conversation on that topic with the now former Minister for the Economy, and I know that work was being taken forward on that to see how there could be greater regulation. What the Member said is yet more anecdotal evidence of people not caring about some of the rules that are already in place. One of the products that I am taking forward is funding the delivery of a new supply of affordable intermediate rent homes, levering in additional private finance through a private operator. The intermediate rent scheme will provide good, affordable private rented housing with enhanced security of tenure to low-income households. The discounted rents, which are available at 80% of the rental cost on the open market, could help those who cannot yet afford to access homeownership to start to save towards a deposit. We have had a number of contributions today. I have to say that I think that there is broad opposition around the Chamber to the SDLP's proposal. That is interesting, and the Deputy Chair was certainly forthright in her analysis of the situation. People should take note: when Gerry Carroll and I are on the same page

about the impact that equity loans will —.

The Member says that that was his aim. He is obviously trying to bring us together in opposition to him, and he has certainly succeeded in that today. The reason why there is such broad opposition to the proposal is that we can all see that simply injecting more money would just drive up the cost of homes and make them unaffordable for those who come next. Therefore, we should not take that approach. It has been tried elsewhere, and, where it has been tried, it has been recommended that it be withdrawn or it has been withdrawn, so, for goodness' sake, let us take an evidence-based approach, see what has gone before and make sure that we learn from that. What is the key in all of this? The key for us is to increase housing supply. That is exactly what we are attempting to do through the housing supply strategy. We also continue to invest in areas where we have had great success, such as co-ownership, and I will keep pushing to ensure that they have the funding and resources necessary to provide an affordable path to homeownership for everyone who needs it. However, as I have said, the challenges in our housing market will not be solved by that alone. We have to increase housing supply across all tenures in Northern Ireland, and that will require a commitment from across the Executive. To increase supply, we need to make it easier and more straightforward to build homes in Northern Ireland. That means that we have to look at planning regulation. We need to look at the role of statutory consultees, and I am pleased that, when I came into the Department, I identified an issue with the historic environment division and the length of time that it took to respond to consultation. I put extra resources in place, and we have seen a significant improvement in response times. We need to make sure that that happens across all statutory consultees. We need to deal with the waste water issues, zoning requirements and whatever else it may be. Let us take concerted action and work together to make sure that we make it as simple and straightforward as possible to build homes in Northern Ireland. That is what will tackle the issue, and I look forward to working with my Executive colleagues to deliver on that.

1,222 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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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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