Proposal to deal with housing crisis in Northern Ireland

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by Kay Murchie

A proposal to tackle the housing crisis in Northern Ireland has been revealed by Margaret Ritchie, the minister for social development.

Increasing property values across the area have resulted in affordability issues and exacerbated the lack of housing.

In a statement to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Ms Ritchie outlined a series of new measures.

The plans include more social houses, the first eco village for Northern Ireland and more mixed religion areas.

The minister added that her housing plans ’will start to immediately address the affordability crisis of today and the lack of social housing for tomorrow‘. Currently, there are 38,000 people waiting for social housing in Northern Ireland.

From 2009, developers will have to ensure that one fifth of every development counts as affordable housing.

Ms Ritchie said I don’t want to just build homes, I want to build better homes. More sustainable homes will lead to more sustainable communities. Energy efficiency is to be a focus of the new agenda, with a new code for sustainable housing, commented Ms Ritchie.

The Village area of south Belfast will be in line for £100 million worth of investment once it was declared an urban renewal area. Other development projects mentioned include a £25 million regeneration of the former military base in Enniskillen, to include up to 500 mixed tenure homes.

The new housing agenda has been welcomed by DUP South Belfast assembly member Jimmy Spratt. He commented investment in this area, which it is no exaggeration to say has some of the worst housing stock in Northern Ireland, is long overdue.