Derry is doomed to poor housing unless the inequalities are addressed…

“I am very much aware of the great demand for housing, especially social housing, and the impact that wastewater capacity issues can have on the delivery of housing supply.”

These are the words spoken by Infrastructure Minister, John O’Dowd, in September 2022 at a special social housing workshop. Ministers Hargey and O’Dowd host workshop to overcome challenges to delivering more homes | Department for Communities (communities-ni.gov.uk)

Many professionals in the construction and housebuilding sector, myself included, would agree with everything in this statement. However, we are now approaching 2025 – are we any closer to addressing the deep-seated inequalities in housing across Northern Ireland?

Derry / L’Derry has been affected more than many other areas. It has been impacted by historic inequalities in housing and from the reducing social housing funding in recent years. However, they now suffer another disservice caused by the wastewater crisis. NI Water have recently confirmed that the highest number of properties not obtaining a wastewater connection was in the Derry City and Strabane council area.

Of the 19,000 properties refused a drainage connection, Derry / L’Derry is at the top of the list with 5,300 properties being turned down. Ards & North Down are a distant second with 3,3000 being refused a connection. This ensures more misery for those families and individuals who are desperately waiting on a housing list and is fuelling the homelessness crisis.

Furthermore, in an interview with the BBC Housing Executive warns of service cuts due to lack of money – BBC News Seamus Leheny, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, highlighted the impact of the substantial funding gap for social housing. He said; “We commenced work on just shy of 1,500 new homes last year” but confirmed; “we’ll do well to be able to finance the construction of 400” this year.

So, the North-West has fallen victim of the current wastewater crisis, funding reductions in social housing and many other planning failures. This is not the time or place to rehearse all the problems with our wastewater infrastructure and delve into the detail of possible funding models for NI Water but suffice to say that there are funding solutions already out there.

One possible solution is to adopt a similar approach to how social housing is financed in Northern Ireland. This would require the NI Executive to give NI Water similar powers of borrowing as currently exist for the NI Housing Executive.

At present, NIHE only funds up to 50% of social housing and the remaining amount is presumably obtained by private sources or banks. In the same way that housing associations can borrow against their built assets perhaps NI Water could follow a similar model and raise money for their infrastructure upgrades without being embroiled in the whole water charges debate.

For instance, during the financial year 2012 / 13 housing associations in Northern Ireland secured £125m private finance in addition to the £83 million funded directly from the government.

If NI Water could borrow against their assets this additional capital funding could be used in places like Derry / L/Derry to update the city’s key wastewater treatment works to enable more housing to be built. And, for those who think this a step too close towards privatisation the response is that this has already happened in the social housing market.

Certainly, the NI Executive have underfunded NI Water’s investment programme (price control model) as recommended by the NI Utility Regulator, for a substantial period of time. This must now be reversed if we are going to build more social housing.

As I have mentioned above, the wastewater problems are not the only restraint on social housing building, but, it is one that we can do something about.

And, let’s be honest, this is not just the responsibility of the Infrastructure Minister, John O’Dowd MLA and his department. A solution will require the co-operation of many departments including the Department for Communities, the Department of Finance and the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs.

The Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons MLA, is to publish a social housing strategy shortly which is expected to be cross-departmental and have the backing of the whole of executive. This is to be welcomed, and, the Construction Employers Federation (CEF NI), the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and other agencies are already working hard to find solutions.

Therefore, we have a fantastic opportunity to reverse decades of housing inequality, not make it worse. Not just by addressing the wastewater crisis but also by reforming our planning system and finding new innovative ways to fund our housing associations.

This piece is not doom and gloom. It is a call to action, to work together to ensure that Derry / L/Derry, and similar places, are not left-behind and suffer continued housing inequality.

Cllr Brian Pope is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a former councillor on Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council