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NIHE rent rise put on hold due to coronavirus
A rent rise for tenants of Northern Ireland’s housing authority has been put on hold for six months in response to the coronavirus crisis.
Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) rents were supposed to increase for the first time in five years today. The rents were supposed to be increased by 2.7%.
However, the higher rents will now not come into effect until 1 October following a last-minute intervention from Northern Ireland’s communities minister Deirdre Hargey.
Ms Hargey said: “I am well aware that the Housing Executive needs a long-term revitalisation programme in order to deliver much-needed investment in its homes and neighbourhoods.
“One of my earliest decisions as minister was to approve the first Housing Executive rent increase in five years, in recognition of this. But we are now in a very different landscape.
“People are worried about their jobs, their income and whether they can pay their rent. The last thing they need is to face a rent increase this week.”
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The NIHE, which owns around 86,000 homes, has been subject to a rent freeze since 2016/17.
Gripped by a severe funding crisis, the landlord previously warned that it may need to start “de-investing” in around half its huge housing stock from this year if a solution is not found – risking tens of thousands of homes falling into disrepair.
Inside Housing previously revealed that the number of repairs left outstanding by the landlord have more than doubled over the past three years.
Its rents are around 25% lower than housing associations in the region and lower than council rents in comparable parts of England and Wales.
The NIHE will lose out on around £4m of income as result of the rent rise delay.
NIHE tenants on Universal Credit will be contacted to make sure their benefit payments remain accurate.
A spokesperson for the NIHE said: “We’re doing everything we can to support our tenants through the COVID-19 period.
“We have already announced that no one will lose their home as a result of this period of unprecedented uncertainty – we have suspended enforcement activity and we are focused on providing proactive support.
“Any family impacted by Covid-19 will have a very sympathetic approach applied and in order to reassure our tenants, we have postponed the modest rent increase announced recently until October 1, 2020.”
Housing associations, whose rents are set by their boards in Northern Ireland, will be allowed to apply rent changes as normal.
Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities advises housing associations not to increase rents by more than the NIHE.
Both the NIHE and Northern Ireland’s housing associations have promised not to evict any tenant struggling to pay the rent during the coronavirus crisis.
The NIHE has also suspended Right to Buy sales following UK government advice on buying and selling homes under social distancing rules.
Update: at 14.42pm 07/04/20 the story was updated to confirm that the rent rise delay will cost the NIHE an estimated £4m following information received by the authority and add a comment from an NIHE spokesperson.
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