SDLP Calls For Urgent Action To Address NI Housing Crisis

The SDLP has called on the Northern Ireland Executive to declare a housing emergency and secure funding from Westminster to build 50,000 homes by 2032.

SDLP Opposition Communities Spokesperson Daniel McCrossan made the call ahead of an Opposition Day motion on Tuesday. The motion urges the Executive to ring-fence Barnett Consequential funding from house building in England and Wales to finance the ambitious plan.

McCrossan highlighted the growing housing crisis in Northern Ireland, citing the long social housing waiting list, rising rents, and the increasing number of properties being used as second homes or Airbnbs. He emphasised the urgent need for decisive action to address these challenges and provide safe, sustainable, and affordable housing for all. Mr McCrossan said: "Attempts to address these issues have been nothing short of pathetic. Despite numerous commitments to embark on an ambitious programme of house building, this year will see just hundreds of new social houses built, while the Housing Executive continues to sell off their stock making the difference negligible at best. Private housing developments are being held up by the underinvestment in wastewater infrastructure and as these problems mount the Executive is doing little to address them. As Executive failure and inaction remain the order of the day, homelessness continues to rise.

"The previous Sinn Féin Communities Minister pledged to build 100,000 homes by 2037 without any proper plan or Housing Supply Strategy in place. Predictably that grandstanding has amounted to nothing and the current Communities Minister has followed in that vein. What we need to see now is Executive Ministers working together to address these issues and we believe that the first step is recognition of the serious housing emergency we are facing.

"The SDLP's proposal is an ambitious plan to build 50,000 homes by 2032. This can be partly paid for through a commitment that any Barnett Consequential funding from house building in England and Wales be ring-fenced to build new homes here.

"This is not a problem that is going to be solved overnight, but is an important start if we want to deliver everyone in the North with a decent standard of home. The Executive cannot continue to sit on its hands and moving the goalposts every few years when it comes to house building, supporting buyers and lowering our social housing waiting lists."