Debate contribution: Housing: Disrepair, Damp and Mould

Debate contribution by Mr Robbie Butler on 24 February 2026.

MLA

Mr Robbie Butler

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

24 February 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Housing: Disrepair, Damp and Mould

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5404753

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important motion and thank the Member for West Belfast for proposing it. The issue is not an abstract one for me but one of the most common issues that is raised in my constituency office. Given the questions that I have previously asked him, the Minister will know that that is a fact. Time and again, families contact my office about maintenance problems, delays in repairs and the poor standard of work when repairs are eventually carried out. I will give credit, however, to the local Housing Executive team in Lisburn. They met me in my office to discuss the challenges. Damp, mould, persistent leaks, heating systems that fail, windows that do not seal and, very often, repairs that treat the symptom and not the cause lie at the root of those challenges. Issues with maintenance and standards of repair are probably the single biggest category of housing complaint that my office deals with. People are not just frustrated from having to wait but worn down from having to report the same problem again and again. A wall is cleaned, but the ventilation issue remains. A patch is painted, but the water ingress is never addressed. That is not good enough for any tenant, whether in social or private rented accommodation. As has been referred to, the Housing Executive's own data shows that, in 2023-24, there were 17,198 damp-, mould- or condensation-related repair requests. In 2019-2020, that figure was just over 10,000, and, after a dip during COVID, the numbers have risen year-on-year. Given that we have just had the wettest winter on record, I think that 2025-26 will be a disaster. Those figures represent real households, real children and real older people. We know that damp and mould are linked to respiratory illnesses, asthma and infections and that they have an impact on mental health, especially when they are not addressed properly. When a parent contacts my office, worried about their child's breathing, it stops being a policy debate and becomes a matter of urgency. We cannot speak about that without thinking of Awaab Ishak. His death was a tragedy that shook many of us: a little boy who lost his life because of serious hazards that were reported but not resolved urgently enough or properly. We owe it to his memory to ensure that, when families raise concerns about damp and mould, those are taken seriously and acted on. The introduction of Awaab's law in England shifted the focus from expectations to enforceable time frames. Northern Ireland does not yet have an equivalent. If our current framework provides the clarity required, it still needs urgency and accountability, and we must strengthen it. Clear standards and timelines protect tenants and give landlords certainty. I know that there is a commitment to inspection within 24 hours, which is welcome, but inspection is only the first step. What matters is proper diagnosis and fixing the root cause, whether that be installation failure, ventilation problems, heating inadequacy or structural water ingress. We must listen to wider lived experience. In polling commissioned by National Energy Action Northern Ireland, 43% of respondents said that their home had been affected by damp and mould and 39% said that they were living in fuel poverty. That should concern each and every one of us. It tells us that many households may be struggling beyond what is captured by official repair statistics. Fuel poverty and housing conditions are closely linked. If homes are poorly insulated and families cannot afford to heat them properly, condensation and mould are, as we know, much more likely. That is why retrofitting and improving the fabric of our housing stock is not optional: it is central to prevention. Better insulation, effective ventilation and energy efficiency measures will reduce damp at source and ease pressure on the Minister's finite budget in the long term. We must also recognise that some private tenants feel disempowered and fearful of raising concerns because of the risk of retaliatory eviction. Enforcement powers mean little if tenants are too afraid to have them used. At its heart, the motion is about dignity and basic standards. No child should grow up in a mould-affected bedroom, no older person should sit in a damp, cold living room, and no tenant should feel that asking for a repair is asking for too much. Our constituents are simply asking for safe, warm and well-maintained homes and for problems to be fixed — the first time. That is not an unreasonable request. It is the very least that our communities should be able to expect.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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