Monkstown mother of six in plea for bigger social home

Mrs Lee is one of more than 47,000 people on a waiting list for social housing.

Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Association chief executive Seamus Leheny said there was a “crisis”.

The budget for building new social homes in Northern Ireland this year was cut by more than 70%, which means there will only be the money to build about 400 new homes.

“We’re not building enough social homes, we’re not building enough affordable homes,” he said.

“People point the finger and look at Dublin where there is a housing crisis. We are going to follow in the footsteps of Dublin and we need to learn the lesson from Dublin and tackle the problem now before it gets worse.”

Northern Ireland has seen a slowdown in both social and private housebuilding.

Official data published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency earlier this year suggested housebuilding fell to a 60-year low in 2023, with just 5,379 new dwellings completed during the year, including 570 social houses.

Planning permission data also suggests there is no sign of supply increasing.

Figures released on Thursday show residential planning applications last year fell by 10% to just 6,300.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said he would be asking for additional funding for social housing in the next monitoring round – a Stormont mini-budget.

Monitoring rounds provide a system to review spending plans and are usually held three times a year, in January, June and October.

“I did secure additional funding in the last monitoring round but it’s not enough – it’s not acceptable and we need to do much more so I will continue to make the case for housing,” Mr Lyons added.

“We have to look at alternative sources of funding as well and that’s why I’m very keen to get the reclassification of the Housing Executive so it can borrow against its own assets.”

He said it was also not just about more money, but addressing issues around matters such as planning, wastewater and public land.