{"id":152329,"date":"2025-06-02T14:41:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T14:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/152329\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T14:41:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T14:41:21","slug":"stormont-budget-for-new-social-homes-falls-woefully-short-with-only-1000-new-homes-projected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/152329\/","title":{"rendered":"Stormont budget for new social homes \u2018falls woefully short\u2019 with only 1,000 new homes projected"},"content":{"rendered":"

The recently published Programme for Government (PfG) set out a commitment to have started construction on at least 5,850 new social homes by 2027.<\/p>\n

Meeting that target would require the construction of over 2,000 new social homes each year.<\/p>\n

At a meeting of the committee for communities in February 27<\/a> \u2014 the day the Executive approved the PfG \u2014 it was revealed the department would not meet that target under current allocations. <\/p>\n

Outlining his department\u2019s budget allocations today, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons confirmed that only 900 to 1,000 new social homes would be possible. <\/p>\n

Mr Lyons said he was operating under \u201ca continually strained budgetary environment\u201d but added that he was \u201cdetermined to use the money that has been secured to best effect.\u201d <\/p>\n

Addressing housing, the minister said addressing homelessness and increasing the supply of homes is \u201cone of my top priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DUP minister announced an additional allocation of \u00a33.7m to the Homelessness and the Supporting People Programme. <\/p>\n

\"Gordon<\/p>\n

Gordon Lyons<\/p>\n

Capital funding of \u00a32.8m for the New Foundation Project to deliver 110 accommodation units for young people leaving care was also announced. <\/p>\n

But Mr Lyons acknowledged that more homes are needed. <\/p>\n

“Social housing is crucial, as it provides affordable, stable housing options for those who might otherwise struggle in the private rental market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

“The inclusion of housing as one of the key pillars of the Programme for Government shows the widespread support to deliver affordable, sustainable and quality housing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy proposed budget of \u00a363m will facilitate the start of approximately 900 to 1000 new build social homes.<\/p>\n

“This is on top of the \u00a3105m for pre-commitments to housebuilding from last year.<\/p>\n

“But this is not enough. This Assembly last year declared a housing crisis in Northern Ireland, yet we are left in a position to fund less than 50% of the Programme for Government housing target.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Lyons said that the allocation was an improvement on the previous year when only 400 new starts were initially projected. <\/p>\n

However, after additional funding was unlocked just over 1,500 new homes were delivered<\/a>. <\/p>\n

My Lyons added: \u201cWe will put the same effort into driving us these figures this year as we did last year and will continue to make the case at every possible opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, it is not enough to simply ask for more money. We need to do things differently.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s why I will be bringing proposals to the Executive shortly on how we can do more with the money we have to build more homes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Seamus Leheny, Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, has called for \u201cclarity and certainty\u201d on how additional funding will be secured. <\/p>\n

\"Seamus<\/p>\n

Seamus Leheny, NI Federation of Housing Associations<\/p>\n

\u201cNorthern Ireland is in the grip of a deepening housing crisis,\u201d Mr Leheny said. <\/p>\n

“The social housing waiting list grows every year \u2014 yet once again, the budget for new social homes falls woefully short.<\/p>\n

“It’s less than half of what\u2019s needed to even begin reducing that list.” <\/p>\n

Figures published last month show that 49,083 households in Northern Ireland are on the social housing waiting list.<\/p>\n

Mr Leheny said that failing to deliver a minimum of 2,200 new homes \u201cis simply failing the people who need the homes most.\u201d<\/p>\n

“We need clarity and certainty on how additional funding will be secured as soon as possible,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

\"NI<\/p>\n

NI is in the grip of a “deepening housing crisis.” (Gareth Fuller\/PA)<\/p>\n

News Catch Up – Monday 2nd June<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the Minister\u2019s talk of new approaches is welcome, we need to see concrete plans now \u2014 not another year of delay.<\/p>\n

“We can\u2019t afford to be in the same position this time next year, still waiting for action, with uncertainty for social housing builders and a growing waiting list.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The recently published Programme for Government (PfG) set out a commitment to have started construction on at least…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[924,21747,42497,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-152329","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-democratic-unionist-party","9":"tag-department-for-communities","10":"tag-gordon-lyons","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114614297396781009","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}