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Report calls for more mixed-tenure development in Northern Ireland
New developments in Northern Ireland should mix private and social housing, the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has said.
In a new report titled Rethinking Social Housing Northern Ireland, published today, the housing professionals body said people do not want “large, single-tenure housing estates being built”.
Instead, the 230 people who responded to a survey for the report were found largely in favour of mixed-tenure schemes which “support sustainable communities and encourage people from different community and income backgrounds to live together”.
CIH Northern Ireland called on the housing industry to deliver more mixed-tenure developments and for councils to help through the planning system.
And it called on government to introduce a developer contributions policy for social and affordable housing in the region.
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Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the CIH, said: “The way social housing is broadly delivered in Northern Ireland has not changed much over the past 20 years.
“Meanwhile there have been major changes in the public and financial environment, such as welfare reform.”
Belfast City Council’s draft strategy on its Local Development Plan, published in August, states that affordable housing should be “pepper-potted” through mixed-tenure schemes.
Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities (DfC) and the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations have also been encouraging the sector to start exploring mixed-tenure development.
Today’s report also recommended that the Right to Buy – or the House Sales Scheme as it is known in Northern Ireland – be scrapped. The UK-wide CIH made the same call at its annual conference in June.
And it urged the housing sector to work with government to develop a “mid-market rent housing option” for people on lower incomes.
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Research for the CIH’s report was principally sponsored by the DfC.
Paul Price, director of social housing policy and oversight at the DfC, said: “The department is grateful to the Chartered Institute of Housing for taking this project forward.
“We will consider the findings and recommendations. They will help us advise ministers on the future of social housing in Northern Ireland.
“We are committed to taking forward responsive housing solutions, to work in partnership with a wide range of housing professionals, and to find innovative ways to future proof social housing for generations to come.”
Rethinking social housing Northern Ireland is attached to this article.
