ao link
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In

You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles

NIHE to save £10m a year after Treasury’s corporation tax exemption decision

Northern Ireland’s housing authority will be exempted from corporation tax, saving it around £10m a year.

Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard
Picture: Nathaniel Barker
Picture: Nathaniel Barker
Sharelines

Northern Ireland’s housing authority, @nihecommunity, will be exempted from corporation tax, saving it around £10m a year #UKhousing

Budget documents released today by the UK government revealed that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) will no longer have to pay the tax levied on businesses.

The policy will have retrospective effect from April 2020, meaning the saving for the NIHE will be £20m in the next financial year.

According to the Budget documents, the move “will bring the NIHE into line with comparable public housing sector bodies across the UK”.

Most housing associations are registered charities, meaning they do not have to pay corporation tax on their core businesses.

Councils are also not subject to corporation tax.


READ MORE

NI government promises social housing funding boost despite ‘difficult’ BudgetNI government promises social housing funding boost despite ‘difficult’ Budget
NIHE to be reclassified as mutual, minister announcesNIHE to be reclassified as mutual, minister announces
Northern Ireland eviction protections extended until end of SeptemberNorthern Ireland eviction protections extended until end of September

The NIHE is one of the UK’s largest landlords, controlling the majority of social housing in Northern Ireland, with around 85,000 homes.

It also carries out a number of housing functions for the region, such as distributing social housing grant and handling allocations and homelessness services.

In 2018, it emerged that the NIHE was facing a severe funding crisis, with a gap between annual income and costs of roughly £140m.

Without a solution, the body warned that it would have to start “de-investing” in half of its massive housing stock, leaving it to fall into disrepair.

Northern Ireland’s government, formed in January 2020 after three years of political deadlock, announced plans in November to restructure the NIHE to become a mutual in order to allow it to borrow for investment.

The body has been arguing that it should be exempt from corporation tax for some time.

A deal agreed by political parties in Northern Ireland upon forming a new government included a promise to “examine options” to exclude the NIHE from corporation tax, as well as to wipe its historical debts.

Peter Roberts, chair of the NIHE, said: “The announcement by the UK chancellor is very welcome.

“Unlike other public sector bodies and social housing providers, we have been paying £10m to £20m each year on corporation tax.

“This money can now go directly into investment programmes for our homes, which is great news for our 84,000 tenants. It is also great news for the local economy and employment as we emerge from the Covid pandemic.

“We have been working with successive ministers, and most recently Deirdre Hargey MLA, as well as officials from the Department for Communities and Department of Finance for many years to get this matter resolved. I want to thank them for their endeavour to get this outcome today.”

Update: at 14.18pm 04/03/21 a comment from the NIHE was added to the story

Sign up for our Northern Ireland bulletin

Sign up for our Northern Ireland bulletin
Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard
Add New Comment
You must be logged in to comment.