Debate contribution: Dilapidation Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 1 July 2025.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

1 July 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Dilapidation Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5061326

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

First, I thank my Executive colleagues for their support for the Bill. I look forward to working with Members across the Chamber to take the Bill forward, particularly with members of the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee, which is ably chaired by Robbie Butler. I say with some confidence that the Bill should be welcomed by all Members. The Bill will improve the quality of local environments across Northern Ireland in neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities and in our rural and coastal areas. The Bill impacts on all of Northern Ireland: all the people of Northern Ireland and those who visit. Clean and tidy neighbourhoods help to engender a sense of civic pride in their residents. People feel safer in such neighbourhoods and more at ease in their surroundings. Such local environments attract more investment and have a positive impact on our health and well-being. There are, of course, many examples of dilapidated buildings and neglected sites that negatively impact on the amenity of neighbourhoods. Recently, I visited a number of sites in Northern Ireland to see at first hand the scourge of dilapidation on our communities. I am sure that Members will agree with me when I say that it makes for depressing viewing. Although the former Department of the Environment's dereliction intervention programme, which included the shrouding of buildings and the introduction of false shopfronts, helped councils to tackle the detrimental impact on amenity that is caused by derelict and dilapidated buildings and gap sites, it was always intended to be a relatively short-term fix. An agreed way forward is needed to ensure that district councils have a proper toolkit of powers that enables them to take effective action against owners who fail to stop their buildings from falling into significant disrepair. Work on the development of a dilapidation Bill originated as a result of a number of councils taking part in two blight summits and significant engagements between my officials and a range of key stakeholders nearly a decade ago.

The overwhelming majority of respondents to the 2016 formal public consultation exercise expressed a preference for the development of a wide-ranging dilapidation Bill that would consolidate and amend much of the existing legislation and supplement it with new provisions on low-level dilapidation and dangerous buildings that were already available to local authorities in the rest of the UK. The other key proposal was to strengthen the cost-recovery options that are available to councils, enhancing the financial viability of councils undertaking remediation work themselves. A review of the legislation that was available to councils concluded that that legislation, much of which dates back to the Victorian era and/or applies to specific geographical areas, is limited in its scope and effectiveness.

There is also a significant legislative deficit in Northern Ireland compared with other relevant jurisdictions. Although local legislation purports to address the same basic issues, there is a lack of consistency across it, and the Northern Ireland-wide legislation is subject to differences in interpretation between councils, making some reluctant to use it. That deficit has been addressed by including in the Bill provisions that are broadly equivalent to those in England and Wales under sections 215 to 219 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, on low-level dilapidation and neglected sites, and sections 77 and 78 of the Building Act 1984, on dangerous buildings and emergency action. Similar provisions exist in relevant Scottish legislation. The intention of the Dilapidation Bill is to provide all district councils with a modern, fit-for-purpose, Northern Ireland-wide enforcement regime to deal with the negative impact of dilapidated and dangerous buildings and neglected sites. The definition of "building" is broadly drawn and seeks to encompass most man-made structures. There is currently no statutory or non-statutory guidance to support the various pieces of legislation that are available to councils. Given the intended scope and potential complexity of the Bill, my officials are developing clear statutory guidance. That will be laid in draft before the Assembly in due course to allow the Committee to scrutinise it. It is envisaged that that approach will give district councils, property owners, financial institutions and other government agencies much greater clarity on the scope of the legislation and the responsibilities of the various actors. There is likely to be a positive impact on employment, business, charities, social economy enterprises and the voluntary sector, as the powers in the Bill will enable councils to tackle dilapidation, thereby enhancing communities, benefiting the economy, improving the quality of the built environment, increasing tourism and reducing antisocial behaviour. As detailed, a formal assessment of the regulatory impact of the proposals in the Bill has been completed. That assessment recognises that, in the commercial sector, there are likely to be additional costs for landlords, property developers, property management companies, financial institutions and others who own dilapidated buildings in cases in which councils take enforcement action. However, to a large extent, those costs will be offset by enhanced property values, additional activity in the construction sector and a range of non-monetary social benefits. The Bill will not impose a financial burden on my Department, and it must be stressed that the new powers in the Bill do not place any new statutory duties on councils; rather, the Bill gives them additional discretionary powers, allowing them flexibility to avail themselves of those powers as resources permit. In the current budgetary climate, no discrete funding provisions have been included in the Bill. In cases in which district councils take enforcement action, there will potentially be costs to the owners of dilapidated properties. The inclusion of robust and effective cost-recovery provisions will ensure that councils are not financially disadvantaged. Effective implementation of the new regime will require council buy-in to opt in to undertaking enforcement activity, and it is recognised that councils will need to allocate adequate resources. The Bill allows councils to issue a range of notices, depending on the severity of the dilapidation, that require owners, occupiers and others with a relevant interest to take appropriate remedial action to deal with varying levels of dilapidation and neglect or that allow the council to take such action itself and recover the costs from the relevant person. The Bill allows for a hierarchical approach to severity, with low-level cases being the least severe, dilapidated structures being moderately severe and dangerous structures being the most severe. Those groupings are not mutually exclusive, and there can be overlap across all three. However, it is likely that a single notice will suffice in most cases. The Bill allows councils to issue the combination of notices that it deems to be appropriate, with each situation to be considered, rightly, on a case-by-case basis. Many of those powers do not exist in Northern Ireland but have been established in England and Wales since 1990 and in Scotland since 1997. Others with a relevant interest may include a person with a financial interest in the property or any person with a responsibility for the management, maintenance or safety of the property. The scope of works that can be required is wide and can include planting, clearance, tidying, enclosure, rebuilding, repainting, external repairs and, in extreme cases, demolition or part demolition. That will obviously be determined on a case-by-case basis. Specific grounds for appeal to the Magistrates' Court are in the Bill, as is provision for further appeal to the County Court by the appellant or the council. Protections will be afforded to listed buildings. The Bill binds councils into ensuring that they will consult the relevant planning colleagues or the Department for Communities about historic monuments before taking any action. That will properly address heritage issues in a more proactive way and allow action to be taken at a much earlier stage, thereby preventing avoidable decay in important buildings. Non-compliance with the various notices will be a criminal offence. Penalties range from a £2,500 fine on summary conviction for failure to comply with a maintenance notice to a £5,000 fine on summary conviction or on conviction to indictment to a fine or a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both, for failure to comply with a dangerous structures notice. The Bill also provides for councils to issue a discretionary £500 fixed penalty to discharge liability for conviction for breach of a maintenance notice or failure to provide information without reasonable excuse. The Bill significantly enhances the cost recovery powers for councils. Where the relevant person has failed to carry out the remedial action that was specified in the notice, a council may take such action itself and recover its costs from that person through the courts. The provision of robust and effective measures to ensure that the appropriate person or organisation pays for the necessary remedial actions is key to minimising costs to the public purse and preventing unscrupulous property owners deriving financial benefit from letting buildings fall into disrepair. As with serving a notice under the Bill, officials were keen to ensure that the range of persons from whom costs may be recovered is broad. Where costs cannot be immediately recovered, they will be treated as a charge on the land and placed in the statutory charges register as though they were a mortgage, thus ensuring full cost recovery. Experience has shown that those powers have delivered important, tangible and lasting improvements to amenity in other jurisdictions. The Dilapidation Bill has the potential to contribute to wider regeneration and urban quality objectives. There is little incentive for private property owners to invest in the quality of their property if they are in an environment that is of such low quality that it simply sucks value out of their property. The Bill can and will help to tackle the blight of dilapidation, which spoils the appearance of our neighbourhoods. In doing so, it will improve the quality of life for all the people in Northern Ireland. I will also comment on the fact that we are debating the Bill on the final day before recess. Some people have had concerns about the delay in introducing the Bill. Obviously, when we came back in February last year, government was switched back on, but it does not power up immediately. It takes us time to develop and deliver the legislative programme. Also, in presenting the Bill to the Assembly, I have to have confidence that I can say to you all that it has the proper vires and competencies. We have been through a process to assure ourselves of that. It is important that I say that we are debating the Bill today because we have ensured that we are confident in the Bill that we have presented to the Assembly. I look forward to the debate, and I commend the Bill to the Assembly.

1,796 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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