I beg to move

That this Assembly notes the Programme for Government (PFG) target to commence work on at least 5,850 new social homes by the end of the mandate; expresses regret that as little as 1,000 new social homes will be built this year; believes that the Executive are failing to address the housing crisis; and expresses a lack of confidence in the Executive to deliver their Programme for Government targets.

The Business Committee has agreed to allow up to one hour for the debate. The proposer of the motion will have five minutes to propose and five minutes to make a winding-up speech. Two amendments have been selected and are published on the Marshalled List, so the Business Committee has agreed that a further 16 minutes will be added to the total time for the debate. Please open the debate.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle.

[Translation: Thank you, Mr Speaker.]

The SDLP understands the fundamental power of a home to shape people's lives. Housing is a basic necessity — a tangible, life-shaping foundation on which families and communities are built. Let us not forget that the very foundations of our political system were born out of the housing rights movement, and it is why many of us stand here today.

The failure to confront this growing crisis has had devastating consequences. That failure is a lived reality here for tens of thousands of people today. Those people include the single mother who has to traverse three flights of stairs twice a day, toddler in tow, with a pram in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other; a new mother in emergency accommodation who is not allowed visitors, not even her mum to help her with night feeds; the man bearing the scars of conflict, who has been given hostel accommodation that is two hours away from his support network, battling the haunting pull of relapse; or the pensioner who cannot climb the stairs to reach the toilet or their bed, waiting years for a new home. That is what social housing looks like in 2025, and, every day, it is getting worse.

We were told that the Programme for Government would be ambitious. We were actually told that it is ambitious, promising nearly 6,000 social homes by 2027. However, this year, we will struggle to build barely 1,000 — half the target that the Executive set. Ministers laud that and the housing supply strategy as some sort of victory when, in Derry alone, over 6,000 people are waiting for a home. That is not ambition; it is abdication. Instead of addressing those failures, last week, the DUP proposed a motion not to deliver homes but to scapegoat immigrants and shift blame on to those with the least while letting those in power and with power off the hook.

Leadership is not about pitting people against each other but about stepping up when the public are hurting. Right now, people are sore and angry, and they have every right to be, though anger is not the problem. The problem is what we do with it. We should all be angry. Anger is a powerful tool and force for change. The Executive cannot just tell people that they will do "what matters most": they need to actually do it. For 10 years, the Executive, when we have had one, have failed to treat housing as a priority. That is why anger is spilling on to the streets. Let us be clear though: violence solves nothing, but neither does silence and, certainly, nor does neglect.

Housing is not a headline, but it is a lifeline. How can the public, and how can we in the Chamber, have confidence in an Executive who consistently fail to meet their own targets and dress up failures as success and who struggle to be held to account or to face accountability? We need to rebuild confidence in leadership, because, right now, that is in even shorter supply than homes.

We in the Opposition are not here just to criticise. I have no doubt that the Minister will stand up in response to the debate, as seems to be the pattern, and ask, "Well, what answers do you have?". We have set out answers. We do not have them all, but we can play our part in providing them. We have set out a clear road map in our 'Building Firm Foundations' plan: properly fund social housing, curb the ballooning cost of rent and temporary accommodation, repurpose public land and do it fast, address the growing number of empty homes across our communities and reuse them for people who are crying and dying for a roof over their heads, and tackle the waste water infrastructure crisis.

The people outside these walls are not asking for the impossible; they are asking for a home, an opportunity and a life not lived in limbo. They deserve better than this. I propose the motion.

I beg to move amendment No 1:

Leave out all after "the mandate;" and insert: "acknowledges the Minister for Communities’ stated commitment to tackle homelessness and boost housing supply, including the introduction of the affordable rent scheme, the allocation of £10 million for the loan to acquire move-on accommodation and the decision to allow the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) to use its reserves to purchase properties for temporary accommodation; further acknowledges that, while those measures may offer some short-term relief, they are insufficient to meet the scale of need; notes with deep concern that, as of March 2025, approximately 49,083 households were on the social housing waiting list and that only around 1,000 new social homes are forecast for this year; further notes the warning from the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA) that at least 2,200 new homes are needed each year, as set out in the housing supply strategy; regrets the continued failure to provide sufficient funding for new social housing and to invest in the waste water infrastructure needed to support development; laments the lack of progress on enabling the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to borrow to invest in its assets and assist in housebuilding; calls on the Minister for Communities to work with the Minister of Finance to expedite that at pace with HM Treasury; and further calls on the Minister for Communities to work with his Executive colleagues to urgently scale up housing delivery, including securing and ring-fencing additional capital investment."

You have five minutes to propose and three minutes in which to make a winding- speech. Please open the debate on amendment No 1.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to propose the amendment to the Opposition motion and thank them for tabling it.

There are a number of aspects to our amendment. Some of it is about stating the factual context of where we are today. It highlights the Minister's stated commitment to tackling homelessness and boosting housing supply. That is similar to what other Communities Ministers have highlighted during their tenures. It acknowledges various initiatives that the Minister has brought forward to date, such as the affordable rent scheme, often known as the intermediate rent offering; the £10 million allocation to the loan to acquire move-on accommodation fund; and the decision to allow the Housing Executive to use its reserves to purchase accommodation for temporary housing.

We know only too well the challenges with temporary accommodation and the amount of money being spent on non-standard temporary accommodation and the pressures that that puts not only on budgets but on households. Many individuals and families are living in that non-standard temporary accommodation, which is wholly unsuitable for them and their families.

When we place the housing crisis in context, we can simply say that we need to build more homes. That is the true reality and scale of the crisis before us. I have outlined the measures that the Minister has brought forward, and his predecessors have brought forward others, such as working on the development of the housing supply strategy and other such initiatives. However, in the wider context of our housing crisis, those measures on their own are simply not enough. They will not address the housing crisis before us. They will not deliver enough homes for the many people who approach us, day and daily, looking for support to get a secure home. Those people are living in temporary accommodation, they are living in accommodation that is not suitable, and they are living in accommodation that needs significant investment, such as some of our Housing Executive properties.

Our amendment also laments the lack of progress. It is perhaps important to contextualise that. It laments the lack of progress on delivering borrowing powers for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. What do I mean when I say that? I mean that the Treasury is not giving this the urgency and priority that it deserves. Since the Minister took up his post, I have heard him state that he wants to implement borrowing powers for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Indeed, his predecessor, and the Minister who stepped in for a short time to replace his predecessor, brought forward the revitalisation or reclassification of the Housing Executive, and that is nearly five years in the making. We have not made enough progress on that front. I know and appreciate that negotiations have taken place. I have spoken to colleagues who have been part of those negotiations, through talks processes with the Treasury, about how difficult that is, but we must prioritise. It is imperative that the Communities Minister engages with the Finance Minister to bring further pace to those negotiations.

Our amendment also highlights the challenges with our existing infrastructure. There is no denying that, with our current infrastructure set-up, there are housing developments that simply cannot be taken forward due to the inability to connect to water or waste water infrastructure. Indeed, I have been contacted by housing associations highlighting the unaffordability or inviability of some schemes due to the cost of simply connecting.

Last, but by no means least, and perhaps, crucially, it:

"calls on the Minister for Communities to work with his Executive colleagues to urgently scale up housing delivery,"

That is where we need to be to deliver much-needed housing; we need to scale up housing delivery. It is forecast that we are going to deliver only 1,000 homes in this mandate. Perhaps that will increase, as it did previously, through the monitoring rounds. We have heard from the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations that we need to be building at least 2,200 homes as highlighted in the housing supply strategy. I have said previously in the Chamber, so it will come as no surprise, that I do not believe that even that is enough, but I am a realist and acknowledge that there are budgetary challenges, but we need to be doing all that we can. Housing is one of the most pressing issues that we need to address. It cuts across all Departments. If we can provide good quality secure housing, it will have significant health benefits.

The Member's time is up.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Thank you.

I beg to move amendment No 2:

Leave out all after "year;" and insert: "and calls on the Minister for Communities to bring forward a costed housing action plan to detail actions agreed by the Executive to reduce the social housing waiting list and meet new-build targets."

The Assembly should note that the amendments are mutually exclusive, so if amendment No 1 is made, the Question will not be put on amendment No 2. Ms Armstrong, you have five minutes to propose and three minutes to make a winding-up speech. All other Members who wish to speak will have three minutes.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think that it is fair to say that everyone in the House knows that we are in a housing crisis, with more than 47,000 households on social housing waiting lists, more than 36,000 in housing stress, and more than 11,000 people living in temporary accommodation. As other Members have said, they are not just numbers: they are children, families and older people. Despite the growing need, we are building fewer homes today than we have in 60 years, with barely 5,000 in the past year and well short of the 10,000 that we require annually. The failure is systemic and cross-cutting.

It is not just a housing problem and, indeed, it is not just a Communities problem; it is a cross-departmental problem. That is why I am calling for an action plan that has been agreed by the whole Executive, evidencing how each Department will contribute to reducing the housing waiting lists and help to meet the new-build targets. I was delighted when the strategy was finally published because we had, at long last, a housing supply strategy. The strategy, as launched, sets the right ambition of building 100,000 new homes over 15 years, and that includes 33,000 social and intermediate homes. I would like to see us actually go past that ambition and aim for more. However, a strategy is only as good as the action that follows and, today, that action is missing.

What is holding us back? Northern Ireland Water. As a result of the underfunding of Northern Ireland Water, or however you want to put it, there are 19,000 planned homes — many of them social homes — stuck in limbo because they cannot get connected to sewerage systems. It is not just a technical issue; it is a political one. We need to deal with waste water. The Fiscal Council has already highlighted that the current funding model for Northern Ireland Water is not working. That means that our waste water is not delivering enough capacity for the number of homes that we need to address the housing crisis.

Planning is dysfunctional. Local development plans are gridlocked. Developers, housing associations and councils are all in agreement that, without planning reform, we will not meet even half of our housing targets. That means that the Department for Communities and the Department for Infrastructure must work together to fast-track approvals. We have a collapse in private rental supply. Rents are up over 8% in a year, and the number of available properties has halved since 2019. That means that people are being evicted, coming out of homes and going on to social housing waiting lists. That means that the Economy, Finance and Communities Departments must collaborate on regulation, incentives and public-private partnerships to stabilise and expand affordable rental options. As has been mentioned, we need to ensure that the Housing Executive can have borrowing powers and start to build again. I look forward to an update from the Minister on how negotiations with the Treasury are progressing. We also need to see public land being made available for housing. I look forward to the mapping exercise being completed so that we finally find out what land is available that we can put houses on.

A housing strategy without a costed whole-government action plan is just a wish list. We must hold each Department accountable, from Infrastructure to Finance and Communities to Economy, because no one single Department can solve the crisis alone. This is where I ask that a review be completed to ensure that cross-departmental strategies and plans are able to be scrutinised in a way that is not limited by the Committee structures of this place. If the Minister for Communities is taking the lead on the housing supply strategy, his Department must ensure that it monitors, collates and reports to the Committee for Communities on progress. There can be no more fudging. We have to learn from the renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme and, as an Assembly, no longer accept "It is not within my Department" as an excuse. If a Minister and his Department are taking the lead on an issue as important as the housing supply strategy, they have to take the lead and report on that.

Let us be ambitious and coordinated. Most of all, let us be honest with the people of Northern Ireland. We cannot reduce housing waiting lists or meet our new-build targets without funding the infrastructure, reforming the systems and empowering the agencies that deliver homes. I call on the Assembly to back a fully costed action plan that spans all Departments, aligns with the multi-year Budget cycle and delivers on the promises of our housing supply strategy. Anything less would cause another delay, and, for too many families, delay means despair. In the spirit of working together, Alliance will support the UUP amendment.

I thank the Members who brought this important motion to the House. Lack of housing is one of the biggest issues that we face as a society. Unfortunately, it is an issue on which too little progress has been made.

Colleagues have set out the figures, so I will not go into them, but the fact that the social housing list continues to grow, month on month, is evidence enough that we are not building enough homes to meet the level of demand. The housing supply strategy sets out an ambitious target of 100,000 new homes over the next 15 years, one third of which are to be social housing. That is the scale of what is needed if we are ever to get the waiting lists moving in the right direction. As the motion states, in the Programme for Government, the Executive have given a commitment to build 5,850 homes before the end of the mandate, which shows that the Executive are serious about building more social and affordable homes. We have the plans and strategies in place; we now need to see them delivered upon.

I have to say that it is disappointing that the budget has allocated only enough capital funding to build 1,000 new social homes this year, which goes only halfway to meeting the target of 2,000 per year. I welcome the Finance Minister's comments yesterday that he will work with the Communities Minister to secure extra funding throughout the year and that housing will be prioritised. Whilst that is far from ideal, we have seen how, last year, funding was secured for an extra 1,000 homes during the year, so it certainly can be done. However, we have to be realistic, as Kellie said, about what can be achieved under our current circumstances.

It has long been Sinn Féin's view that, if we want to seriously tackle the housing shortage, the Housing Executive needs to start building homes again, and only by changing the funding model for the Housing Executive and giving it the ability to borrow money will that be achieved. To that end, former Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey, initiated the revitalisation of the Housing Executive, with that outcome as a key priority. As Members will know, that change to the funding model must be agreed by Treasury. Disappointingly, it has so far refused, despite persistent lobbying by successive Finance Ministers. However, I very much welcome the confirmation from the Finance Minister that the Treasury has now agreed to consider that change as part of the ongoing negotiations on a final fiscal framework. We need those negotiations to take place as soon as practicable and an agreement found that will transform the Housing Executive and, more importantly, get the homes that we need built.

Previously in the Chamber, we have debated the benefits of building homes on public land. Sinn Féin would like to see the creation of a land management agency that would assist with identifying and acquiring any public land that is suitable for housing.

While others debate, the DUP is intent on delivering. Housing is one of the most pressing issues facing thousands across Northern Ireland, from families in desperate need of social housing to first-time buyers trying to step into the property market. The DUP recognises the urgency and is committed to action.

The gap between housing supply and demand grows wider day by day. One of the biggest obstacles is a sluggish planning system. That is why the DUP has consistently called for major reforms to speed up approvals. Without efficient planning, our ability to build the homes that we need is paralysed. We welcome the £153 million in financial transactions capital (FTC) funding for co-ownership that was announced by the Minister for Communities. The crucial investment will support first-time buyers and help to unlock over 1,000 new-build homes. That is real support, not empty rhetoric.

The DUP is proud of its record in making housing more accessible and affordable. The affordable rent scheme and the increase in the co-ownership limit are concrete steps that directly support people most in need. While others talk, our Communities Minister is delivering a clear housing supply strategy that is backed by real action.

Let us be honest: planning reform alone is not enough. Infrastructure challenges, especially around waste water, are holding back progress. If we are to meet our housing targets, we need all Departments to step up to the mark. A strong housing strategy needs a strong economic vision, adequate budgets and joined-up government.

There are many causes of the housing shortage, not least the number of buy-to-let and holiday homes that cause acute shortages in coastal areas such as Portrush, Portstewart and Castlerock. Also, owing to the scarcity of supply, rents have increased. Of course, other issues stem from that, including for transport, education and economic sustainability.

The DUP is serious about solving the housing crisis. The question — I take Ms Armstrong's point here — is this: are the other parties in the Executive equally committed?

The Opposition should be under no illusion: the DUP absolutely recognises the acute need for more social housing and, indeed, all tenures of housing across Northern Ireland. Building more homes is a priority for our party and for our Communities Minister. We will champion that need at every possible opportunity to ensure that, going forward, housing supply can better meet demand.

The SDLP motion offers nothing — that is the luxury of being in opposition — just cynicism that the three-year social housing target in the Programme for Government could be met.

Will the Member give way?

There is nothing in your motion.

Will the Member give way?

No, I do not have time.

The Ulster Unionist Party amendment highlights some of the practical actions taken by our Minister and new initiatives that he has brought forward to increase housing supply. Therefore, we will support the Ulster Unionist amendment.

An extremely constrained financial climate in which there are significant budgetary constraints has not dampened our ambition to meet the targets set out in the Programme for Government, including the launch of the housing supply strategy. Initiatives such as the affordable rent scheme and the FTC funding programme have resulted in meaningful progress being made on the ground. However, we acknowledge that more needs to be done.

We will call on the other Executive parties for their backing on those efforts. Housing supply, or the lack of it, is a factor that cuts across a number of policy areas, given its correlation with health and well-being, poverty and educational outcomes. There is a wide range of competing financial needs around the Executive table, and that is recognised, I think, by the Opposition, given that they have tabled motions today calling for more funding for housing, the arts and policing and justice.

The DUP has been pushing for a fairer fiscal framework from the UK Government. More funding allocated to Northern Ireland would be greatly beneficial in helping to deliver the housing targets set out in the Programme for Government. We welcome the Chancellor's announcement in the spending review that there will be an additional allocation of £39 billion for affordable housing over the next decade. We will keep pressure on the UK Government to increase funding to Northern Ireland to ensure that we get a fair amount of investment to allow us to build more affordable housing. That will be done in addition to ensuring that the current commitments translate into additional Executive investment.

Building more houses requires a multi-agency response. It is vital that local government, financial bodies and the construction industry establish a working relationship that will enable the faster construction of affordable housing.

I made a statement this morning about the standards of debate. There have since been two attempts made by Members to intervene, both of which were resisted. I remind Members that an extra minute is added to their speaking time for taking an intervention, most of which take less than 20 seconds, so they should have ample time to take one. I encourage Members to take interventions, as opposed to simply delivering a monologue and not having an exchange.

The promise of 100,000 homes by 2039 rings hollow when we cannot deliver 1,000 social homes this year. Over 44,000 people are on housing waiting lists. In my constituency, families feel the real impact of that inaction, which is worsened by such systematic failures as Northern Ireland Water's inability to support new housing developments. I met Northern Ireland Water officials last week, and the message was very clear: there are 73 waste water treatment works at capacity across Northern Ireland. At their own expense, developers are now having to connect road gullies to watercourses to free up capacity in the system to allow for connections.

Will the Member give way?

Northern Ireland Water says that it needs £640 million this year to fund its investment appropriately, but it has got £321 million. There are 37,000 houses with approved planning permission, but the network has capacity for only 18,000 in specific areas across Northern Ireland. Moreover, 34 areas across 23 towns are closed to greenfield developments.

I am happy to give way.

The Member highlights the issue for NI Water with water infrastructure. Does he accept that the issue does not appear to be cutting through to the Minister for Infrastructure, who has not brought forward any new initiatives?

I am happy to support the Member's comment. The housing crisis cannot be solved without first solving the problems with our waste water infrastructure.

The Member has an extra minute.

The Executive's lack of a short-term plan undermines their long-term promises. The maths simply does not add up, and communities are paying the price.

Illegal HMOs are adding to the strain. Members may not want to face up to it, but HMOs are pushing up rents in working-class areas. The current system, whereby all HMO applications are processed through Belfast City Council, is outdated and fails to address local needs and ensure safety for tenants. Councils need to be responsible for HMOs in their own area. For example, we are told that there are only 14 HMOs in the whole of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area. My goodness. If one goes down into Clonavon — an area of Ballymena known as a G3 area — one could find 14 HMOs operating there.

Immigration places further pressure on our limited housing stock. In Northern Ireland, we are housing asylum seekers in hotels at taxpayers' expense while failing to build enough social homes. That fuels tensions in our community. In response to a recent question for written answer, the First Minister and the deputy First Minister told me that 300 asylum seekers are currently being housed in such accommodation. The Assembly must act. The recent unrest has shown that we need to take the issue seriously. I call on the Executive to deliver a clear plan, to increase funding for social housing to meet the waiting list need, to resolve Northern Ireland's waste water infrastructure issues as a priority and to reform HMO regulations in order to prioritise safety and local oversight.

Every citizen who has paid into the system deserves a safe, affordable home. Let us show our constituents that their needs are our priority. We cannot bury our heads in the sand any longer. As a priority, waste water infrastructure needs to be sorted out, but, at the same time, we need to look at issues such as immigration and the illegal HMOs that are operating in society. They are driving up rents and preventing people from getting houses. Those are issues that people do not want to discuss, but they are issues that the people of North Antrim — my community — have sent me here to raise in order to represent them, because they are issues that are prevalent in North Antrim.

The housing crisis is one of the greatest scandals that the Executive oversee. Despite recent events and what we have heard over recent days, the housing crisis and the wider crisis in public services are not caused by migrants, migration or asylum seekers. The crisis in public services is caused by a cruel economic agenda that says that it is OK to wield an axe to the services that people need at the same time as justifying, excusing and celebrating a huge ballooning of corporate and billionaire wealth.

Migrants and asylum seekers are not to blame for the crisis. According to the people who come into my office and, I am sure, others each day, they are subjected to substandard housing, including damp and mould. They are victims of a Home Office policy that treats them as suspicious, racially profiles them and treats them as prisoners inside temporary housing. Over the past week, the airwaves have rightly been dominated by coverage of the racist pogroms, but people are organising to fight back against the housing crisis while the Minister dithers. People have been organising in Belfast, Derry and everywhere in between. I commend them for doing so. To repeat: landlords are driving up rents while the Government allow them to do so.

I support the motion in its original form. The amendments weaken it and give the Executive a bye ball and an easy time. Currently, over 49,000 —.

Will the Member give way?

Sure.

Will the Member articulate how calling for increased funding to build more homes weakens the motion?

The Member has an extra minute.

Thank you. The amendment submitted by the Member's party removes the requirement for the Executive to act, which weakens the motion. It is not strong enough. The motion is better without the amendments from the UUP and the Alliance Party.

The UUP amendment mentions the 49,000 families who are waiting for social housing. Of those, 65% are officially homeless and 5,135 live in temporary accommodation without a permanent, secure place to call "home". That homeless figure includes over 5,700 children who are growing up in Belfast, almost half of whom live in my constituency of West Belfast, which is scandalous. My constituency has also seen an increase in poverty in recent years. We are clearly in a housing emergency, but the Minister will not admit it. The amendments do not admit that either.

There is a simple way of making sure that there is social housing for everyone who needs it. Rates of social housebuilding have been falling year-on-year. The targets in the Programme for Government and the housing supply strategy are nothing more than a pipe dream. Capital allocations for social housebuilding are paltry. By contrast, the money spent on temporary accommodation is eye-watering: £38·6 million was spent on temporary accommodation last year alone, over £12 million of which lined the pockets of hotel and B&B owners. Over £21 million of public money was spent on single lets, going straight into the wallets of landlords without any rent controls or reductions. The more energy the Executive spend on firefighting the crisis, throwing good public money after bad, the less money will be invested in building permanent social homes, and the cycle of homelessness will continue.

If the Executive truly wanted to reduce the demand for temporary accommodation, they would act to stop people becoming homeless in the first place. The Minister could introduce rent controls, but, as we heard earlier, he is opposed to them. He could introduce a no-fault eviction ban so that people could stay in their homes in the private rented sector, but he is opposed to that as well. The Executive could invest far more in homeless prevention services, such as Supporting People. Only £4·5 million was spent last year on homelessness prevention.

Another way out of the crisis —.

The Member's time is up.

OK. Thanks.

Housing continues to be the most common issue brought to my office by constituents, closely followed by domestic abuse. Sadly, in our siloed government, those two problems are often treated separately. It really is not acceptable for someone who is fleeing domestic violence to find themselves stuck in a hostel or an unsuitable flat for three years, but our office has dealt with such cases. If we want people, especially women and children, to leave abusive situations, we need to provide them with safe, secure and permanent housing. Otherwise, the system is setting them up to go back.

We hear not just from victims of abuse but from older people, some of whom are in their 70s and 80s, who have been evicted from homes that they have rented for decades. Why? It is not because they have done anything wrong but because the landlord can make more money renting it as a holiday home. On the north —.

I appreciate the Member's giving way. Does the Member share my concern that the Minister has refused to introduce a no-fault eviction ban to ensure that constituents such as hers, whom she mentioned, and mine are protected, given the lack of such legislation?

The Member has an extra minute.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I appreciate the point. We are coming to the point where we will have to consider legislation, given that people are finding themselves without a home. It is particularly critical for older people. Last week, I was dealing with a lady in her 80s who will be evicted at the end of the month but has nowhere to go. It is a failure of this Government and society that we are not addressing such issues.

I will come back to the point about holiday lets and holiday homes and talk to the bigger impact that they have. This is not just about having a conversation about having a second home on the north coast, and it is not about telling people that they should not come to what is probably the most beautiful part of Northern Ireland. I understand why they want to do that. However, it is about recognising the impact that that has. When people are there only in the evenings and at weekends, they do not send their kids to the school or use the public services. Public services are driven by demand, and we can already see that in our schools. Kids are not going to the local schools, because there are no homes in the local area to house them. Families who need their children as carers cannot live close to where their older relatives are, and that has an impact on our health and social care system.

We cannot look at this just in terms of there not being enough roofs to go over people's heads; we have to look at the wider system. I am deeply frustrated that this is not a cross-departmental priority. I appreciate that there are issues and that money is tight, but we are doing what we always do in this Government, which is to firefight. If we do not look at this situation and do not have a genuine 10-year plan, we will see those issues impacting on all other areas of society. It is not just about bricks and mortar but about infrastructure. Others spoke to that when talking about the challenges with NI Water and planning. We are setting ourselves up for a fall, and we can already see the cracks starting to appear.

I encourage Members to look at this not just as a case of there not being enough roofs over people's heads. It is about the wider system, and housing is a critical part of that. I would like to hear from the Minister about the tangible actions that he has taken. I have raised many times, including at the beginning of this debate, the issue of second homes and tourists. I understand from responses to Assembly questions that discussion is happening, but what are we really doing? How are we addressing the issue? Ultimately, we have to build more homes, but we can do other things in the meantime. I am keen to hear what the Minister has to say.

I call the Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons. Minister, you have up to 10 minutes.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I begin by sincerely thanking the Opposition for tabling the motion. I am always happy for there to be a focus on the subject. It is important to me and to the people of Northern Ireland. I thank Mr Durkan for his tone today, which has been uncharacteristically conciliatory. I think that he recognises some of the things that we are trying to do.

I will address some of the issues on housing that Mr Durkan raised. He said that he has set out a plan for what the SDLP would do: I accept that he has done that. However, to be frank, it is not that different from what we are already doing. He says that we need to look at issues around, for example, temporary accommodation. I have been doing exactly that by purchasing 600 homes using Housing Executive reserves to take the pressure off temporary accommodation. We have been pressing down. I have met housing associations and the Housing Executive about void properties so that we can make sure that we bear down on empty association and Housing Executive homes.

We are also working with others. For example, we are working with the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on dilapidation. That is in addition to the measures that my Department is taking to look at how to reuse buildings that were maybe homes in the past and those that were not. Mr Durkan will also be aware of the announcements that I have made in the paper that I will bring to the Executive plans for how we can best use public-sector land in Northern Ireland. He identified those issues and the need to tackle waste water infrastructure problems in Northern Ireland. To be fair, those are all good ideas, but they are also ideas and plans that we are already taking forward. It is important to acknowledge that.

That brings me to the comments by Andy Allen, who proposed a reasonable amendment that outlines the challenges that we face and the problems for the 49,000 households that are affected. In that amendment, he also rightly acknowledges that some steps have been taken. I have done what I can with what I have where I am to address the issues, but more needs to be done. I am more than happy for Members to table motions calling for sufficient funding for new social housing. No one has been a greater advocate of making sure that we have that funding than me, so I am more than happy to have the debates and to make sure that we see progress on Northern Ireland Housing Executive revitalisation and borrowing.

Yet again, I tell the House this: I have used every opportunity that I have had to raise the issue with the UK Government. I have raised it with the Deputy Prime Minister. I have encouraged the First Minister and deputy First Minister, who raised it with the Prime Minister. I have raised it with every UK Government Minister whether or not it is their responsibility. I am therefore pleased to confirm what was outlined in the comprehensive spending review this month:

"The UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive have ... agreed to immediately begin negotiations on a full Northern Ireland Executive Fiscal Framework. The scope of negotiations will include Northern Ireland Housing Executive borrowing".

That is the first time that we have had it on record — on paper — that the issue is being taken forward. I am pleased that, for the first time, we have been able to secure complete cross-party consensus on the issue and that the Government have officially confirmed that they will take that on. I wish that that had been done a long time ago. I have made sure that they have been provided with all the relevant information. I have made sure that the Housing Executive is ready to go when the changes are, I hope, confirmed. In summary, we are making progress on that, so the amendment from Mr Allen and his colleagues is entirely reasonable.

Kellie Armstrong mentioned monitoring in relation to the housing supply strategy. I will say what I said earlier about the anti-poverty strategy: I have no desire for it to sit on a shelf and do nothing; I want it to be effective. There is agreement in the strategy that new legislation, policies and procurement protocols will be required to underpin that. We will identify where new powers and policies are needed to enable strategic delivery and set out a framework for implementing them.

That takes me to a point that a few Members have raised today. I will pick up on comments by Claire Sugden, who stated that we have "siloed government" in Northern Ireland and that nothing gets done. I have plenty of criticisms of the Executive and Executive colleagues at times — I keep those to myself — but, to be fair, on this issue, we have taken a joined-up approach. We have a housing supply strategy that is already making a difference. We see that in how officials work together and operate and in the fact that the Finance Minister allocated to Infrastructure an additional £16·5 million last year so that we could connect 2,300 social homes. Having a document that outlines how we are to work means that we are making progress. I often take criticism on such issues, but, on this one, there has been more joined-up work and a joined-up approach.

I appreciate the Minister's giving way. I am talking about a wider holistic context of outcomes. My points are about the impact on our other public services. More often than not, when we bring issues to Ministers, they say, "I am sorry: it is not in my remit", but, ultimately, it is. My biggest frustration with the Government is that, although you can join the dots of your various working groups, you are not looking at outcomes, ultimately, which is where you need better joined-up working.

I am sorry: I disagree with the Member, and I think that that is a shallow argument. I have already identified one way in which there has been greater working together; on infrastructure, that has been lined up already.

The other issue is one that the Member has already raised — Mr Bradley raises it with me frequently — which is second homes on the north coast. That issue was not on the agenda of other Ministers. I worked with the previous Economy Minister, and we are taking forward plans to address that. If she is saying that we do not work together, talk about the issues or get tangible outcomes, I have to disagree with her.

She also asked about tangible activity that we have taken part in. I have listed that in the House many times before. We have had tangible delivery on housing, not only the strategy and the commitment in the Programme for Government. The 600 homes that we are using will save —. The Member is rolling her eyes. The 600 homes that we bought will save —

It is not enough. It is nowhere near enough.

She says that it is not enough, but those 600 homes will save £75 million on temporary accommodation over the next seven years. It will save £75 million over the next seven years, because we will take that pressure off temporary accommodation. The Member does not think that that is a good idea.

No, I

[Inaudible.]

It is not enough.

It is an innovative way —

Through the Chair, please.

— to deal with the problem. It is just opposition for opposition's sake.

[Interruption.]

It should be welcomed. What they are saying is that the new innovative plan that we brought forward, which will save £75 million. How many other Ministers are bringing forward plans that will save £75 million? Mr Carroll identified as a problem the fact that too much money is spent on temporary accommodation. What have we done? We are doing something that has not been done in recent years. We are using reserves to buy homes to take the pressure off that. That is a good thing. I want to see more of that.

Will the Minister give way?

I am sorry: I am limited in my time. I would give way to the Member, but I have already taken a lengthy intervention. I will, however, come on to Mr Gaston's points. He set out some of the issues, and I agree with him. Waste water infrastructure, in particular, is critical. I want to see action on that and explore all the options. I am more than happy to look at the plan that the Infrastructure Minister brings forward. Mr Gaston raised some other important concerns, particularly around HMOs. Work is being considered on that issue.

I take issue with Mr Carroll's point. Yes, I do not have all the resource that I want, but, for the first time, we have dedicated funds for homelessness prevention. It cannot be said that we are not doing anything on the issue when we have allocated more resource. I want to make sure that people do not fall into those issues in the first place.

Will the Minister give way?

I am sorry. I have less than a minute left. I would love to take another intervention, and I am always open to doing so, but I do not think that the Speaker will give me any additional time, so I need to move on.

I recognise the scale of the problems that we face. I am absolutely committed to making sure that we can deal with them. I am the one who has looked at the new and innovative things that we can do that will make a difference. I will continue to do that and to advocate for more social homes. The housing supply strategy is one example of how we are working better together.

Previously, Mr O'Toole said that he was looking forward to the publication of the housing supply strategy. It was published in December. I will finish by offering a copy of that strategy to Mr O'Toole so that he can see some of the progress that we are making. I am happy to sign a copy for him as well.

That would only devalue it. I call Andrew McMurray. You have up to three minutes, Mr McMurray.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I share the Opposition's concerns about the slow progress on the housing supply strategy. The Programme for Government sets an important target of commencing at least 5,850 new social homes by the end of the mandate. If we want to meet that target, we need to make speedy and sustained progress right from the start. It is very concerning to hear that the Department will only be able to start work on 900 to 1,000 new social homes this year when the target demands more than twice that number. Even if we meet the target, we will barely touch the sides of the problem.

As many have pointed out, in the first quarter of 2025, over 49,000 households were on the social housing waiting list across Northern Ireland. In the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area alone, nearly 4,000 households are on that list. There are also over 4,000 households that have presented as homeless across Northern Ireland. They are not just statistics, as has been pointed out quite well by Mr Durkan. Families and, in particular, single individuals wait far too long for the dignity of a secure and affordable home.

Let me be clear: achieving 1,000 new starts is not good enough. I share the frustration and the sense of urgency, but I disagree —.

Will the Member give way?

Certainly.

The Member highlighted the scale of the problem, and he also highlighted, like many of us, the fact that 1,000 new homes will not be enough. Does he support our calls for "additional capital investment" to be secured by the Department for Communities so that it can deliver more homes?

The Member has an extra minute.

I have another minute. That is great. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Certainly, I support the UUP amendment. I am happy to say that.

I disagree, however, with the motion's expressing a lack of confidence in the Executive. That will not build a single new home or lead to any extra funding. It does not lead to one bit of help for the thousands of people in housing stress. We need constructive action now. That is why our amendment calls for the Minister:

"to bring forward a costed ... action plan".

However, we are happy to support the UUP amendment as it is. Theirs is a much more solution-focused approach, which can help to improve outcomes and take meaningful steps towards delivering homes in communities.

To sum up, we have all heard about the practical and tangible issues that are facing housing, so I want to point out, in disagreement with Mr Gaston, that it is very poor form to place the blame for them almost solely on newcomers. Apart from that, it was a good and cordial debate. The other common thread — the main thread — is waste water infrastructure.

Will the Member give way?

I am about to sit down.

I call John Stewart to wind up on amendment No 1. You have three minutes, Mr Stewart.

Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. I am happy to wind up on our amendment. It has been a good debate so far and has been held in good tone. I say from the outset that there should be no room for party politics when it comes to a housing crisis and when people need a roof over their head. There should be room not for political point-scoring or rhetoric but rather for constructive cross-party cooperation. For the most part, that is what we see, and I think that we see that from the Minister, who is trying his best, often in very difficult circumstances. We thank everyone who so far has committed to supporting our amendment. We want to do that in the constructive tone that was intended, and we thank the SDLP for tabling the motion.

I acknowledge the Minister's commitment and his work to date in tackling homelessness and progressing the housing supply strategy through the document that was released recently. That needs to be seen in context. When placed against the scale of the housing crisis that we face, it simply does not go far enough. That is not a criticism of the Minister or the Department, and it is not a political swipe. It is an honest reflection on the reality that thousands of people across Northern Ireland are homeless. As we have heard already, 49,000 families are currently on the social housing waiting list, with a significant percentage of those currently deemed to be homeless. That is lamentable in 2025 in a modern society. The aim to build 1,000 homes a year simply will not go anywhere close enough at this stage to even tackle that. The Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations has said that we need to build 2,200 houses a year, and that probably is not enough either. The Minister knows that, and we know that. We are dealing with difficult circumstances, and my party colleague from East Belfast has already pointed out what some of those are. There are the infrastructure issues, which we are all aware of. The fact that we cannot build enough homes or develop Northern Ireland to the level that it needs to be developed to because of capacity issues is, quite simply, scandalous. Recently, we heard that £10 million had to be allocated under the June monitoring round just to ensure that there was not a crisis in the freshwater supply. That is lamentable, and that needs to be tackled and dealt with.

Will the Member give way?

Absolutely.

In my intervention to the Member for North Antrim, I of course said that the Infrastructure Minister had not taken any new initiatives regarding this matter. In the interests of accuracy, it is perhaps important to say that she has suggested the idea of developer contributions, but that will not address the scale of the problem. We need to address how NI Water is funded.

The Member has an extra minute.

Thank you for the extra minute, Mr Speaker.

I absolutely agree. Developer contributions will solve, potentially, one aspect of it, but they will not solve the pressure on social housing because they will come at a cost, which housing associations will often be unable to afford to pay. Also, ultimately, it will be the people who are buying or renting those homes who will indirectly pay the costs of developer contributions. It will not solve the problem. It is possibly one small piece of a multitude of issues that need to be dealt with. Sadly, we are not hearing enough about those.

My colleague and others have pointed out the need for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to have additional borrowing powers. I know that the Minister and all parties in here have been lobbying the British Government to ensure that that can happen. That is vital. Fifty years ago, the Housing Executive was building 50 times the number of homes that it is building now, I understand. It is regrettable that we are at the stage now where it cannot borrow the money to build the number of homes that we need.

The final bit that my colleague pointed out was that this is not just an issue for the Communities Minister but one for all Departments and for the Executive as a whole. We need to ensure that the money is there, that the housing supply strategy can be implemented and that we go further than that. If it is not seen to be a full Executive priority, it will not get the level of support that it needs. I thank everyone again for supporting our amendment, and I commend it to the House.

I call Matthew O'Toole to wind up on the motion. Mr O'Toole, you have five minutes.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will attempt to respond to several of the points that have come up in the debate, but I will not cover all of them, because I have a relatively brief period of time. First, I want to tackle the idea that, purely by the Opposition being an Opposition, we are somehow not being constructive. We have said from the very beginning that we would be a constructive Opposition, but let me be absolutely clear: being robust and pressing the Executive for delivery on their own targets is the essence of opposition and of democracy. Some people in this Chamber may not like democratic debate and challenge and may think that we should all come here and agree with one another and wring our hands collectively and go out and pretend that we all agree with one another, but, if we were to do that, we would be failing our citizens. I will give way to the Minister.

I want to make it very clear, as I did at the start of my comments, that I welcome the debate, am more than happy to be held to account and want to focus on this issue. The Member certainly cannot level that accusation at us today. I am more than happy to have that discussion and make sure that we are held to account.

You have an extra minute, Mr O'Toole.

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I appreciate the Minister making that clarification, and I acknowledge that we have been robust with him in the past few days. We will continue to have very strong differences of opinion on events of the past week. I acknowledge that he has at least offered a degree of explanation for what is a striking failure to deliver on social housing targets. I acknowledge that, so far, he has engaged in some detail. That is fair enough, but it is very difficult to see how the Executive can come anywhere near meeting their target — one of the very few specific targets in the Programme for Government — of 6,000 social homes by the end of the mandate. If we are lucky, we will deliver 1,000 this year. That means that, in all probability, that target will be missed. In all probability, it is extremely likely that it will be missed.

Will the Member give way?

Mr Kingston said earlier that we were indulging in the "luxury of being in opposition". He and his colleagues and others in the Chamber have the privilege and the responsibility of government. Our job, as the Opposition, is to hold them to account.

I think that Mr Allen asked for an intervention.

I thank the Member for giving way. Does the Member accept that this is not just a current issue? In fact, it goes back decades, and his party held the Department for Social Development portfolio at one time.

That is absolutely true. Yes, at one time, our party held that portfolio. We could all go back and find out that Paddy Devlin said something in a meeting of Belfast City Council back in 1970 or whatever. Fair enough. That is fine. I acknowledge that. It is a joint responsibility, but we have to take responsibility, as the Opposition, for holding the Executive parties to account.

A Member:

Will the Member give way?

I will not give way on absolutely every single point. I have been generous in taking interventions. I will perhaps take another in a few minutes' time.

Let me say this. The Executive will, in all likelihood, miss their social housing targets. Let us be clear about that. The Minister at least made a bid to get the amount of money needed, but the Finance Minister did not meet it.

We know that one of the other issues that is plaguing the delivery of social housing and all other forms of construction is the situation with NI Water. That is not this Minister's responsibility; it is the Executive's responsibility. The failure to even engage with the problems at NI Water is a shameful indictment of the Infrastructure Minister and the Finance Minister. Yesterday, in the Chamber, the Finance Minister practically brushed me off when I asked him about investment in NI Water. Last week, the independent Fiscal Council said that the funding model was not fit for purpose. Yesterday, the Finance Minister said, "I don't agree" and just brushed it off.

Later tonight, about 100 miles south of here, there will be a protest. Someone has put up a social media post about the housing crisis in the other part of this island. The person who posted that message asks:

"Fed up with rip off rents & house prices?"

Yes, I would say that lots of people in the North are. The post continues:

"Angry at ever rising homelessness?"

Yes, I am, and lots of my constituents certainly are. It goes on:

"Dismayed by missed social & affordable housing delivery?"

Yes, yes, yes. I agree with Eoin Ó Broin, the Sinn Féin housing spokesperson in the Dáil, that this is not acceptable. All that the Opposition and I are asking for is that the citizens of the North, who are experiencing a housing emergency, get the same kind of opposition and the same kind of delivery that Sinn Féin is demanding in the other part of this island. Simply announcing strategies, as Sinn Féin housing Ministers did —. By the way, during this debate, which is now over, we have heard from one Sinn Féin spokesperson. That speaks volumes about the seriousness with which that party takes its responsibilities to its citizens in the North. What is good enough in Dublin is not good enough for those of us in the North. It is pathetic. Genuinely pathetic.

[Interruption.]

Does Ms Ennis want to come in? I will give way.

[Inaudible.]

I have held the Minister to account. I am talking about the Minister too, because the Minister and others are responsible for their failure to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. However, they are part of an Executive in which the Finance Minister and Infrastructure Minister are unable and unwilling to engage on the most serious issues.

I will give way briefly to Mr Carroll.

I thank the Member for giving way. Does the Member have a concern that there appears to be a circling of the wagons by the Executive parties on the amendments, which try to remove the part in your motion that says:

"believes that the Executive are failing to address the housing crisis"?

Do the Member and the party opposite have any concern that there has been an attempt to gut that part of the motion?

I agree with that, and we will not support the amendments, not because we are being difficult but because we are the Opposition. Our job is to hold to account the parties in the Chamber that are in government. Lots of important things are happening, and I welcome the fact that there is finally a serious discussion with the Treasury about the classification of the Housing Executive and borrowing powers. That is a good thing. We will be constructive in welcoming that.

I also welcome the fact that there is now agreement on some of the land use points that we raised. Progress has been made, and I do not think that the Minister is not serious about all those things. There will, however, be a failure to deliver on the target that was in the Programme for Government just a few weeks ago. There is nowhere near the budget to deliver social homes, and there is a complete denial about the crisis facing NI Water.

If Members think that the job of the official Opposition is to come in here and glad-hand, shake hands and pretend —

The Member's time is up.

— that all is fine, I am afraid that they have another thing coming. I commend the motion to the House.

Before I put the Question on amendment No 1, I remind Members that if it is made, I will not put the Question on amendment No 2.

Question put, That amendment No 1 be made.

The Assembly divided:

<SPAN STYLE="font-style:italic;"> Ayes 38; Noes 8

AYES

Mr Allen, Ms D Armstrong, Ms K Armstrong, Mr Beattie, Mr Bradley, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Brett, Ms Brownlee, Mr K Buchanan, Mr T Buchanan, Ms Bunting, Mr Chambers, Mr Clarke, Mr Dickson, Mrs Dodds, Mr Donnelly, Mr Dunne, Ms Egan, Mrs Erskine, Ms Forsythe, Mr Gaston, Mr Givan, Mr Harvey, Mr Honeyford, Mr Irwin, Mr Kingston, Mr Lyons, Miss McAllister, Mr McMurray, Mr McReynolds, Mr Martin, Mr Mathison, Mr Muir, Ms Mulholland, Ms Nicholl, Mr Robinson, Mr Stewart, Mr Tennyson

Tellers for the Ayes: Mr Beattie, Mr Stewart

NOES

Mr Carroll, Mr Durkan, Mr McGlone, Mr McGrath, Ms McLaughlin, Mr McNulty, Mr O'Toole, Ms Sugden

Tellers for the Noes: Mr Carroll, Mr Durkan

Question accordingly agreed to.

Main Question, as amended, put and agreed to.

Resolved:

That this Assembly notes the Programme for Government (PFG) target to commence work on at least 5,850 new social homes by the end of the mandate; acknowledges the Minister for Communities’ stated commitment to tackle homelessness and boost housing supply, including the introduction of the affordable rent scheme, the allocation of £10 million for the loan to acquire move-on accommodation and the decision to allow the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) to use its reserves to purchase properties for temporary accommodation; further acknowledges that, while those measures may offer some short-term relief, they are insufficient to meet the scale of need; notes with deep concern that, as of March 2025, approximately 49,083 households were on the social housing waiting list and that only around 1,000 new social homes are forecast for this year; further notes the warning from the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA) that at least 2,200 new homes are needed each year, as set out in the housing supply strategy; regrets the continued failure to provide sufficient funding for new social housing and to invest in the waste water infrastructure needed to support development; laments the lack of progress on enabling the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to borrow to invest in its assets and assist in housebuilding; calls on the Minister for Communities to work with the Minister of Finance to expedite that at pace with HM Treasury; and further calls on the Minister for Communities to work with his Executive colleagues to urgently scale up housing delivery, including securing and ring-fencing additional capital investment.

I note that there were Noes from the SDLP.

The Business Committee has arranged to meet at 1.00 pm today. I propose, therefore, by leave of the Assembly, to suspend the sitting until 2.00 pm.

The sitting was suspended at 1.00 pm.

On resuming —