Housing: Developers could pay to upgrade water treatment

The Construction Employers Federation in Northern Ireland has warned about the impact this was having on the industry.

Chief Executive Mark Spence said: “While the housebuilding numbers are at their lowest for 60 years, next year they will be lower again.

“That could be the lowest since World War II.”

He is calling for an independent, expert-led review into how to fund NI Water, which he says has also been supported by the Northern Ireland Audit Office.

He said the idea of developer contributions is a “small piece of the jigsaw” which would have “minimal impact.”

He said it would only unlock the very largest sites where the multimillion cost can be spread across a large number of house sales and still allow them to be affordable.

Some developers, he said, are now looking to work outside of Northern Ireland because of these problems or considering stopping work altogether.

“We are hearing this from many developers in Northern Ireland; several of them have already started working in Scotland, the north of England, and the Republic. Others are simply looking into whether their businesses are still viable,” Mr Spence said.

A spokesperson for NI Water said the wastewater system is at capacity due to historical underinvestment.

It says its current budget allocation from the Department for Infrastructure is less than levels the Utility Regulator determined necessary for both operating costs and capital investment.

As a result, it said: “We are working through a process of prioritising the asset investments that may progress. Inevitably, this means there is investment that has been planned that is now being deferred.”