Housing Executive is not under threat
I write in response to the story headlined ‘Housing Executive faces axe’ (Inside Housing, 30 April). ‘Get it right first time’ is the ambition of all housing providers, including the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. So it is hard to understand how Inside Housing’s headline ‘Housing Executive faces axe’ could get it so wrong!
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It is not for the Housing Executive to explain the Democratic Unionist Party’s housing manifesto, but the headline used illustrates a grave misunderstanding of the issue, and damages the hard-won reputation of the Housing Executive.
Unlike the rest of the UK, public housing in Northern Ireland is managed by a single comprehensive body known as the Housing Executive. It is both the strategic authority and the landlord of more than 90,000 homes. Faced with increasing pressure on public finance, the issue here is about future strategic direction and the potential to re-align the Housing Executive, the housing association movement and the private sector in a way which guarantees a sound financial framework with a sustained level of funding.
As the DUP manifesto states, the examination of this issue ‘could allow the estimated £3 billion of assets held by NIHE to be used to finance new build, repairs, maintenance and other important programmes such as Supporting People’.
This will be an issue for all housing providers as they face the inevitable stringent squeeze on public spending. Indeed, it is to the Housing Executive’s credit that it has already initiated this important strategic conversation.
In Northern Ireland, the future is about re-configuring the delivery of social housing in a way which builds on progress, guarantees a sustained level of funding to meet housing need and retains the Housing Executive, an institution which has widespread respect and served Northern Ireland well for nearly 40 years.
At the end of the day, change can only come about with consensus from the Housing Executive’s 90,000 tenants, the community and our political representatives.
In 2009, when the Housing Executive became the first public housing body to win the UK Excellence Award, I invited Inside Housing to visit Northern Ireland. This is particularly important when we are trying to encourage conversation and build consensus around these key strategic issues. That invitation still stands.
Brian Rowntree, chair, Northern Ireland Housing Executive