Stormont set to fall well short of annual social home building target

Stormont is currently set to fund less than half the number of social homes it had pledged to start construction on this year, MLAs have heard.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said a proposed capital budget allocation of £63 million would facilitate work on between 900-1,000 new build social homes.

The target for new social home build starts in the Executive’s three-year Programme for Government is 5,850 – equating to just under 2,000 a year.

Mr Lyons expressed hoped that he would be able to “drive up” the rate of construction as the year progressed.

He noted that in the last financial year the initial budget allocation only allowed for 400 new starts, yet at the end of the year work had commenced on 1,502 in 2024/25.

Outlining his proposed budget plan to the Assembly on Monday, the minister said: “Social housing is crucial, as it provides affordable, stable housing options for those who might otherwise struggle in the private rental market.

“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.

“My proposed budget of £63 million will facilitate the start of approximately 900-1,000 new build social homes. This is on top of the £105 million for pre-commitments to housebuilding from last year.

“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.”

Mr Lyons said it was “not enough to simply ask for more money” as he made clear there was a need to “do things differently”.

The minister said he would be bringing forward proposals to the wider Executive aimed at doing more with the money available.

The DUP MLA said his spending plan would also see an additional £3.7 million diverted to the Homelessness and the Supporting People Programme.

He said he was also proposing a £2.8 million capital injection to the New Foundation Project to secure 110 units of accommodation to support young people leaving care.