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Northern Ireland social housebuilding edges up after starts surge in final quarter

Social housebuilding edged up last year in Northern Ireland despite the long-running absence of ministers at Stormont, according to official statistics.

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Northern Ireland social housebuilding edges up after a starts surge in the final quarter #ukhousing

Figures in the Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin published by the Department for Communities (DfC) show that 1,786 new homes were started under the Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP) in 2018/19, up from 1,759 the previous year.

Of these, 1,510 – or 85% – were registered as starts in the last three months of the year.

The DfC told Inside Housing that the final quarter surge reflects the annual cycle of the SHDP and the time taken to acquire sites, design schemes, carry out consultation and gain planning permission.

However, it was not enough to meet the 1,850 starts target for the SHDP, reduced from 2,000 because of Northern Ireland’s lack of a government.


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Overall housebuilding rose 12% with 8,424 starts counted by building control.

However, the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) said the growth was driven by the private sector and warned that social housing risks being left behind as a result of Northern Ireland’s ongoing political impasse.

The region has been without a functioning government since January 2017.

Of the 8,424 homes started over the year according to building control figures, 89% were by private enterprises.

SHDP grant funded 1,682 completions over the year, up from 1,507 in 2017/18.

Building control counted 7,809 total completions, of which 939 were social homes.

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive estimates that the region needs around 7,200 new homes a year, with 2,000 of these for social housing.

“This number would be difficult to achieve in the current environment, due to budgeting and associated issues that have arisen from the political impasse,” said Justin Cartwright, policy and engagement manager at CIH Northern Ireland.

“The lack of housing and social security policy development is worrying – we need an executive to make the case for more social and affordable housing and to ensure that legislation, funding and support is in place to make it happen.”

A spokesperson for the DfC said: “The final quarter activity of the Social housing Development Programme (SHDP) is an annual occurrence.

“The annual starts figures represent the point at which housing associations are contractually committed and achieved an on-site position and this can vary greatly due a number of factors.

“As part of the annual cycle of the SHDP, housing associations are required to acquire a site, develop a design, carry out consultation and obtain planning permission.

“Turnaround times for planning applications can typically be between 8-12 months.

“Associations are unable to sign work contracts with building contractors until these milestones have been achieved and approvals obtained.

“Any delay in the process can result in new build schemes starting on-site in the final quarter of the programme year or deferred which was the case in the 2018/19 programme.”

Update: at 16.32 09/08/19 a comment from the DfC was added to the story.

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