Communities Minister launches consultation on Social Housing Development Programme

8 July 2024

The RSUA is concerned at the recent announcement of the proposed reduction in the budget available from the Department for Communities for the Social Housing Development Programme and believes this will have a significant negative impact on the number of new build developments coming forward for this sector.

Although the department states that most of their capital budget will be directed at social housing, it is anticipated that this will amount to just a maximum of 400 new homes in the year ahead, with an inevitable impact on those who work in all areas of this sector.

In recent days, the further announcement that an additional £20m will be allocated as a result of the monitoring round, while welcome, will have only a small impact in the overall drive to increase the number of new homes across Northern Ireland.

RSUA believes that while supporting the construction sector and housing are rightly stated as priorities for the Northern Ireland Executive, more needs to be done to make this a reality, including looking at innovative ways to increase the budget available. The Minister has launched a consultation on the department budget here and we are keen to hear from members on their views of this key issue.

Please email George Dorrian at george@rsua.org.uk with your views.