37,000 properties in pre-planning ‘at risk’

31 July 2024

The Irish News have reported that up to 37,000 properties in the pre-plan stage are at risk of not being built due to “lack of investment in water and sewage infrastructure.”

According to figures released by NI Water around 19,000 units, including private and social homes, in pre-planning may not be able to proceed due to wastewater capacity constraints.

These developments are “impacted by existing NI Water assets that are high polluting” and would require a “full capital upgrade before further new connections can be made to the wastewater system”.

A further 18,000 properties in pre-planning will only be able to progress if developers are able to self-fund connection works.

In a letter to a property developer and seen by The Irish News, NI Water said the current budget allocation has resulted in “limited ability to increase capacity to accommodate new connections”.

Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone commented that if the executive was serious about building affordable homes it needs to look at ways to fund infrastructure to support them.

“The lack of investment in water and sewerage infrastructure has brought us to a critical point. Houses cannot be built, inevitably driving the cost of existing housing stock up, public services cannot be expanded leaving many places at paralysis point.”

This follows reports of a drop of new builds being started across Northern Ireland. During the first half of 2024 only 1,500 new homes were started, with poor water infrastructure cited as the main driver for the drop.

Read the full article on the Irish News website here.