Debate contribution: Social and Affordable Housing: East Belfast

Debate contribution by Mr Andy Allen MBE on 3 June 2025.

MLA

Mr Andy Allen MBE

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

3 June 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Social and Affordable Housing: East Belfast

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4986152

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I, too, thank my constituency colleague for securing this important Adjournment debate. It is not the first; it is one of many that we have had about all constituencies right across Northern Ireland. It is one of just a plethora of debates that we have had declaring a housing crisis — a housing emergency. We all accept, right across Northern Ireland, that the time for action is now. I welcome the Minister's commitment to tackling homelessness and increasing the supply of housing. The issue affects, as I have already said, every community, and we have already heard about its impact, and about individuals having to be lifted from the communities in which they live, where they want to be and where they have their support networks. For example, just this week, families were relocated to Portrush for temporary accommodation because it was the only available temporary accommodation, despite their children going to school in East Belfast. We have some terrific schools in East Belfast, as the Member highlighted. East Belfast is a wonderful place to live, grow up, have a business, bring your family up etc, but there are challenges with housing. The housing supply strategy, likewise, is a positive and necessary step forward. It sets out a long-term direction, but the challenge now is delivery. We need homes on the ground, not just ambition on paper. However — the Minister will have noted this, as I have previously highlighted it — does the ambition of the housing supply strategy truly meet the reality? The Communities Committee has had numerous engagements with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and, in one of those meetings, it highlighted its assessed need, which would appear to go much beyond what the housing supply strategy is aiming to deliver. That is not just a criticism for the sake of making a criticism, recognising all the challenges that we have; it is about the reality and the reality of what we are delivering for our people.

The announcement of the affordable rent scheme and £10 million for the loan to acquire move-on accommodation will also go some way to easing the pressures, particularly for those stuck in temporary accommodation or insecure housing. Efforts to secure borrowing powers for the Housing Executive and to allow the use of its reserves to purchase properties to address the temporary housing challenges are also welcome. However, I turn back to the former. I think that I heard the Finance Minister say in the Chamber just a short while ago that Treasury:

"is not yet convinced of our arguments."

I hope that I have not misquoted the Minister, but the genesis of what he says is deeply concerning. I ask the Minister for an update. I know that the Communities Minister is not the lead Minister in relation to getting borrowing powers for the Housing Executive, but, if we cast our minds back to when the reclassification of the Housing Executive was first announced, which was way back nearly five years ago, we see that the progress that has been made has been slow. We need to see significant progress. Likewise, we need to learn from the steps that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has taken in relation to housebuilding in other areas. We need to see that learning being lifted and taken forward as part of a wider piece. The Opposition tabled a motion about the availability of public land, and I am sure that Members can point to a plethora of derelict sites. I think of sites in the Mount on the lower Newtownards Road and across East Belfast that could be available to deliver much-needed housing. Statistics have already been highlighted about the number of people on social housing waiting lists, which equates to one in 32 people across Northern Ireland. Thousands of those people are in East Belfast. We have also heard about East Belfast Mission, for example, which does not just talk about the issue but has taken action. East Belfast Mission has taken proactive steps with the likes of Commonweal Housing. They secured funding to purchase five homes in order to support individuals and families to move on outside of its temporary accommodation. In reality, however, that is only part of the solution. We have also seen initiatives being taken forward around the housing selection scheme. I have had that engagement with people myself. Whilst it is part of the solution whereby they can increase the number of areas of choice that they can put down, it is, in part, tinkering around the edges. Unless we build enough houses for the demand that is the reality, people can put down any number of areas of choice. Ms Armstrong will recognise these comments, because we highlight it continually at Committee but are not getting the progress on it that we would have hoped for. The place-shaping team in the Housing Executive and how it assesses need in an area does not look fundamentally at the reality. There are many areas where housing could be delivered, but it is just not being taken forward. I recognise the challenges and the fact that East Belfast is a great place, but we really need to get on with delivering housing in East Belfast and across Northern Ireland.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:47 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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