Debate contribution: Housing and the Programme for Government

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 17 June 2025.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

17 June 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Housing and the Programme for Government

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5013621

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The housing crisis is one of the greatest scandals that the Executive oversee. Despite recent events and what we have heard over recent days, the housing crisis and the wider crisis in public services are not caused by migrants, migration or asylum seekers. The crisis in public services is caused by a cruel economic agenda that says that it is OK to wield an axe to the services that people need at the same time as justifying, excusing and celebrating a huge ballooning of corporate and billionaire wealth. Migrants and asylum seekers are not to blame for the crisis. According to the people who come into my office and, I am sure, others each day, they are subjected to substandard housing, including damp and mould. They are victims of a Home Office policy that treats them as suspicious, racially profiles them and treats them as prisoners inside temporary housing. Over the past week, the airwaves have rightly been dominated by coverage of the racist pogroms, but people are organising to fight back against the housing crisis while the Minister dithers. People have been organising in Belfast, Derry and everywhere in between. I commend them for doing so. To repeat: landlords are driving up rents while the Government allow them to do so. I support the motion in its original form. The amendments weaken it and give the Executive a bye ball and an easy time. Currently, over 49,000 —.

Sure.

Thank you. The amendment submitted by the Member's party removes the requirement for the Executive to act, which weakens the motion. It is not strong enough. The motion is better without the amendments from the UUP and the Alliance Party. The UUP amendment mentions the 49,000 families who are waiting for social housing. Of those, 65% are officially homeless and 5,135 live in temporary accommodation without a permanent, secure place to call "home". That homeless figure includes over 5,700 children who are growing up in Belfast, almost half of whom live in my constituency of West Belfast, which is scandalous. My constituency has also seen an increase in poverty in recent years. We are clearly in a housing emergency, but the Minister will not admit it. The amendments do not admit that either. There is a simple way of making sure that there is social housing for everyone who needs it. Rates of social housebuilding have been falling year-on-year. The targets in the Programme for Government and the housing supply strategy are nothing more than a pipe dream. Capital allocations for social housebuilding are paltry. By contrast, the money spent on temporary accommodation is eye-watering: £38·6 million was spent on temporary accommodation last year alone, over £12 million of which lined the pockets of hotel and B&B owners. Over £21 million of public money was spent on single lets, going straight into the wallets of landlords without any rent controls or reductions. The more energy the Executive spend on firefighting the crisis, throwing good public money after bad, the less money will be invested in building permanent social homes, and the cycle of homelessness will continue. If the Executive truly wanted to reduce the demand for temporary accommodation, they would act to stop people becoming homeless in the first place. The Minister could introduce rent controls, but, as we heard earlier, he is opposed to them. He could introduce a no-fault eviction ban so that people could stay in their homes in the private rented sector, but he is opposed to that as well. The Executive could invest far more in homeless prevention services, such as Supporting People. Only £4·5 million was spent last year on homelessness prevention. Another way out of the crisis —.

OK. Thanks.

617 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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