Home builds fall ‘short’

Home builds fall ‘short’

4 September 2024

THE number of new houses to be built by the Housing Executive in the district in the coming year will fall “considerably short” of its targets.

That was the stark message given to members of Newry, Mourne and Down Council last week.

Housing Executive chief executive Grainia Long said the reduction in the new-build home programme was due to budget constraints. 

There are currently over 3,000 people on the waiting list for new homes in the Newry, Mourne and Down area.

Delivering the Executive’s annual housing investment plan briefing to councillors, Ms Long said: “The current budgetary environment is presenting challenges for public services and housing has been severely impacted.

“Last year, there was continued investment in new-build homes in the district, with 528 housing association units on-site at March 2023, and 97 housing completions for the year.

“Budget constraints means that the new-build home programme for the coming year will fall considerably short of our targets, once more widening the gap between housing demand and supply. 

“It is vital that we continue to work in partnership with councils and the housing sector to find solutions.”

She said it was “especially concerning” that the Executive may not be able to fully fund many of the programmes needed by many of its customers, such as homeless prevention and affordable warmth

However, she said it was fortunate that investment in the services the Executive delivered as a public landlord for the benefit of its tenants can continue.

She reported that the Executive had invested £7.26 million on planned maintenance schemes in the area and a further £7.96m on response maintenance. It was proposed to increase this spending to £10.26m and £8.32m respectively. 

In addition, she reported that the Executive spent £36.6m on energy efficiency improvement measures, which had reduced carbon and had improved health and wellbeing in over 1,400 homes throughout the province.

She continued: “We worked hard to support the most vulnerable in our communities with £6.21m invested through the Supporting People programme to fund 61 services provided by partner organisations across the district. 

“This investment provided housing support to 1,236 people last year.

“Across the district, 802 people who presented as homeless were accepted for support last year. While we face real budgetary challenges in this area our focus on prevention and early intervention will continue.”

Ms Long said “building cohesive, thriving and supportive communities across the district” remained a key area of focus in the Executive’s investment plan for 2024/25.

“We were able to support local communities with more than £59,000 funding through our community grants, community safety and community cohesion programmes,” she said.

“We recognise the importance of inclusion and good relations in helping people sustain their tenancies and build strong communities.

“We know this is more important than ever when we continue to face challenges in the housing sector with ongoing demand for social and homelessness services.

“Looking ahead to next year, there is no doubt that we have challenges to overcome. However, we remain fully committed to the objectives set out in our Housing Investment Plan 2023-2026.

“Despite these challenges, delivery of our housing objectives is key to the social, economic and environmental benefits of Newry, Mourne and Down.”

She added: “Partnerships established with local council remain crucial and I am looking forward to further close working as we strive to deliver against our shared goal of providing better places to live for the people and communities we serve.”