Debate contribution: Housing Costs

Debate contribution by Ms Kellie Armstrong on 19 January 2026.

MLA

Ms Kellie Armstrong

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

19 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Housing Costs

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5322594

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Across Northern Ireland, more than 300,000 people live in the private rented sector: that is one in every six households. Those renters are families, young professionals, students, older people and those who are simply trying to get by. For far too many of them, renting here means living with constant anxiety about rising rents, insecure tenancies and whether they will still have a roof over their heads in a month. We know that the reality is that finding safe, secure and affordable housing in Northern Ireland has become increasingly difficult. Rents are rising faster than inflation. Today, the DUP mentioned that rents can be updated only once every 12 months: they can be doubled or trebled if a landlord so chooses. It does not matter whether somebody is given three months' notice: if their rent is unaffordable, it is unaffordable. No-fault evictions continue to push people into instability. The rapid growth of short-term holiday lets and the selling off of Northern Ireland Housing Executive homes has squeezed the supply of long-term homes, leaving renters competing for fewer and fewer options. That is why rents are going through the roof. The problems are not new. They have been allowed to grow year after year because successive Communities Ministers have failed to act. Almost two years since the Assembly's return, we have seen no meaningful progress from the current Minister. That is simply not good enough. Everyone deserves access to a safe, secure and affordable home. That is why the Alliance Party brought forward solutions, publishing our comprehensive policy paper, 'A New Deal for Private Renters', a detailed set of proposals designed to fix a broken system and deliver fairness for renters across Northern Ireland.

Our paper sets out clear practical reforms and calls for an affordable rent triple lock — a mechanism designed to prevent the kind of unstable rent hikes that are forcing people into hardship. It proposes a ban on no-fault evictions to give renters the security that they need to build stable lives. It recommends capping short-term holiday lets to ensure that homes are used for local people, not just tourism profit. It also explores the creation of a statutory housing ombudsman with real legal powers to enforce standards and protect tenants when things go wrong — a housing ombudsman that would look at all types of housing. As Oscar Wilde said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I welcome the SDLP's repetition of Alliance's position as set out in our 'A New Deal for Private Renters' paper. Those are not radical ideas. They are reasonable, evidence-based and in line with protections that renters already enjoy in other parts of the UK and Ireland. They represent fairness for the thousands of people who are currently paying too much, living with too little security and receiving too few protections. The Communities Minister has the power to act, and the Assembly has the ability to deliver change, but, without political will, renters will continue to struggle. That is why we are calling once again for urgent action, not after the next election but now. Our private renters deserve better. They deserve the same protections enjoyed elsewhere in these islands. They deserve a system that works for them, not against them, and, with the proposals set out in 'A New Deal for Private Renters', we have a clear, credible pathway to deliver exactly that. We have a chance to transform the rental market, lift the stress carried by so many of our constituents from them and build a fairer, more secure housing system for everyone in Northern Ireland. I will finish by confirming that Alliance will not support the DUP's amendment, because a review of the house sales scheme is not enough. We will support Sinn Féin's moratorium and rent controls.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:17 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification