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Nicola McCrudden is chief executive of Homeless Connect
Shaping the future of social housing in Northern Ireland
Nicola McCrudden gives a flavour of the findings from a forthcoming research project looking at the future of the sector in Northern Ireland
Earlier this year the Chartered Institute of Housing launched a new research project, supported by the Department for Communities, to help shape the future of social housing policy in Northern Ireland.
It’s been quite a while since social housing policy in Northern Ireland came under such close scrutiny.
The most transformative change came about as a result of the Caledon squatting incident (20 June 1968), where a 19 year old single girl was given preference over 269 other applicants on the waiting list in Dungannon District Council – including families living in unfit housing.
“Tackling segregation remains a huge challenge.”
I recently had the privilege of chairing an event on the future of shared housing as part of a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement.
Tackling segregation in social housing remains a huge challenge – it is fair to say that the mood music is both positive and pragmatic.
Yes, we have come so far in our journey but still have a long way to go.
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Our Rethinking Social Housing project is certainly capturing imaginations. To date, we have engaged with 200 people from communities across Northern Ireland, including: tenants, residents, housing and other professionals as well as political parties.
The social and affordable housing shortage is clearly a major concern – causing tensions around prioritisation, allocations and the desire for ‘mixed’ neighbourhoods.
However, today people are talking about a new shared future – one that tackles economic inequalities through mixed tenure and mixed-use housing developments which could lead the way to promoting community cohesion.
Security is also really important. The majority of participants felt that social housing should provide a ‘home for life’. The security and stability that Northern Ireland social tenancies offer is clearly valued.
People described social housing as a place offering “…stability and hope for people” comparing it with the private rented sector – “changing accommodation is stressful, where short leases are involved”.
“Just over half of participants also said social housing should be for everyone.”
Of equal importance, was that social housing should meet a need or be for people in need. However, there was no overwhelming view about what that need should be. Some participants considered an inability to afford private housing as a form of need.
Just over half of participants also said social housing should be for everyone. Two comments that reflect this tension well are: “[Social housing] should be offered to everyone, no matter if they have issues or not, everyone is entitled to a home” and “if a person doesn’t have any disability or is elderly or in priority need… they should be means tested for access to social housing”.
However one thing that everyone agreed on was that our points system for housing allocation is not fit for purpose – it “doesn’t reflect need on the ground” and promotes “perverse incentives”.
These interviews have given us a lot of valuable content. The next steps will be combining this with original research we have undertaken, and suggesting strategic and operational recommendations for change to both government and the housing sector.
The way social housing is approached strategically has not changed much over the last number of decades.
We want to take the best of what works about social housing and combine it with what is missing to create something new that is needed for the future.
Our report will be launched by Will Haire, Rethinking Social Housing Northern Ireland chair, this October.
Nicola McCrudden, director, CIH Northern Ireland
