Commission plans radical overhaul as bid to transfer 93,000 homes is dropped
Executive told to become an umbrella body
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive should split its landlord and funding functions, a commission into the future of the sector has recommended.
In its final report, published today, the Commission on the Future for Housing in Northern Ireland said it had dropped plans to transfer the executive’s 93,000 homes as a solution to its £750 million deficit. Instead, it wants the executive to re-profile its debt, and become an umbrella body.
The commission also made a number of suggestions for funding housing which will be considered radical by the sector in Northern Ireland. All new purchases of land will be subject to planning gain obligations and the sector will be encouraged to use other funding models.
Lord Richard Best, chair of the commission, said: ‘Housing associations in Northern Ireland are relatively small and we think they have a lot of potential. They do need to grow, for we now know that if they are trying to impress lenders, then 25,000 units is a good number to attract finance.’
To help plug the gap of a £200 million fall in land sales, the commission suggested raising its rents, which are lower than those charged by housing associations. Tenants would see their rents increase by £1 a week for the next 20 years.
Paddy McIntyre, chief executive of NIHE, said: ‘The report’s recommendations are encouraging, in that it recognises the progress that housing in Northern Ireland has made over four decades and maps out the way forward in a rapidly changing political and economic environment.’
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