RSUA supports proposed amendments to Housing Executive’s right-to-buy scheme

RSUA has expressed its support for the five proposed amendments set out in the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s (NIHE) public consultation on the House Sales Scheme (HSS).

The HSS enables eligible NIHE tenants to purchase their rented homes at a discounted price.

Background

NIHE has stated that the purpose of the proposed amendments is to help retain social housing stock wherever possible in response to growing pressures on the social housing system.

Previous RSUA analysis of quarterly statistics published by the Department for Communities (DfC) found that, in the first quarter of 2026, the social housing waiting list exceeded 50,000 for the first time. This represents an increase of almost 6,000 applicants since the first quarter of 2022.

Proposed amendments

Against this backdrop, RSUA supports NIHE’s proposed amendments to the HSS:

1. Exclude adapted and accessible dwellings that have been subject to major adaptations from sale.
2. Extend the Option to Purchase (OTP) period from 10 to 20 years.¹
3. Exclude flats and leasehold properties from sale.
4. Clarify that former leaseholders of flats reacquired by the Housing Executive through buy back who become secure tenants cannot subsequently repurchase the same property under the HSS.
5. Exclude periods spent as a secure tenant in a Housing Association dwelling when calculating the HSS discount for Housing Executive tenants.

Wider challenge

RSUA also reiterated that the proposed amendments must form part of a broader package of measures and called for a timelier and more coordinated approach across government to address Northern Ireland’s growing social housing pressures.

For example, the Department for Communities’ (DfC) Housing Supply Strategy (2024), with which the HSS amendments are intended to “align directly” and “sit alongside”, is still without its first Action Plan despite the Department having committed to publishing it by March 2025.

The Strategy sets out an ambition to deliver at least 100,000 homes by 2039, one third of which are intended to be social homes.

More information

RSUA’s full response can be accessed here.

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

1. Currently, if a tenant buys their home from NIHE and chooses to sell within ten years, the NIHE must be given the option to buy back the property. Where NIHE decides not to purchase, the property can be sold on the open market. ↩︎