RSUA briefs Stormont committee on Dilapidation Bill

RSUA today provided an oral briefing to the NI Assembly’s Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee on our October 2025 public consultation response to the Executive’s Dilapidation Bill.

Representing the organisation were RSUA Director Ciarán Fox, Policy and Public Affairs Officer Curtis Large, and member architect Colin Shaw, Technical Director at the Belfast-based firm Taggarts.

The evidence session focused primarily on the challenges and opportunities presented by the Bill in its current form, which will remain at committee stage until 15 May 2026 before moving on to the remaining legislative stages.

The session can be viewed in full by clicking this link, starting at 54:30:00.

Key points

Among the points raised to the Committee were:

• The Bill should focus on keeping buildings in good order and incentivising their ongoing use rather than unintentionally encouraging demolition.
• We highlighted the benefits of introducing City and Council Architects to Northern Ireland in order to coordinate regeneration, planning and building maintenance at a local level, in line with established European models.
• We noted that stronger penalties are needed in the Bill, with escalation for non-compliance, and that the right to appeal should be structured so as not to create unnecessary legal delays.
• We emphasised that notices and penalties could be accompanied by clear signposting of available grants, loans and advice, supporting owners to maintain or restore properties.

 Further engagement

RSUA’s original response to the Dilapidation Bill’s public consultation can be accessed here.

If you have any questions or comments about this session, please contact Curtis Large, RSUA Policy and Public Affairs Officer, at curtis@rsua.org.uk