NIHE chief tells councillors housing ‘has been severely impacted’ by budgetary pressures

Grainia Long, Housing Executive Chief Executive, delivered the annual Housing Investment Plan (HIP) briefing to local councillors, detailing the organisation’s performance during the previous year and outlining programmes and plans for the year ahead.

At the meeting, Grainia Long said: “The current budgetary environment is presenting challenges for public services and housing has been severely impacted

“You will see clearly in our Housing Investment Plan update the adverse impact the proposed budget will have on housing output in 2024/25 – particularly in the reduction in the number of new build social homes we can commission across all council areas.

“It is especially concerning that we may not be able to fully fund many of the programmes needed by so many of our customers; such as homelessness prevention and Affordable Warmth.

“These programmes are part of the services we provide as the Strategic Housing Authority.

“However, we are fortunate that investment in the services we deliver as a public landlord, for the benefit of our tenants, can continue.

“Over the last year in Newry, Mourne and Down, we invested £7.26m on planned maintenance including stock improvements, with a further £7.96m spent on response maintenance.

“We hope to see this increase in 2024/25 with a proposed spend of £10.26m on planned maintenance and £8.32m on response maintenance.”

“Last year, we invested £36.36m specifically on energy efficiency improvement measures across our homes with plans to sustain this investment during 2024/25.

“This investment includes the completion of our Energy Efficiency in Social Housing project, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which delivered improvements in energy performance, carbon reduction and improved health and well-being in over 1,400 of our homes, across Northern Ireland, including Newry, Mourne and Down.

“We worked hard to support the most vulnerable in our communities with £6.21m invested through the Supporting People programme to fund 61 services provided by partner organisations across the district.

“This investment provided housing support to 1,236 people last year.

“Across the district, 802 people who presented as homeless were accepted for support last year - while we face real budgetary challenges in this area our focus on prevention and early intervention will continue.”

Building cohesive, thriving and supportive communities across the district remained a key area of focus in the investment plan for 2024/25.

Ms Long continued: “We were able to support local communities with more than £59k funding through our community grants, community safety and community cohesion programmes.

“We recognise the importance of inclusion and good relations in helping people sustain their tenancies and build strong communities.

“We know this is more important than ever when we continue to face challenges in the housing sector with ongoing demand for social housing and homelessness services.

“Last year, there was continued investment in new-build homes in the district, with 528 housing association units on-site at March 2023, and 97 housing completions for the year.

“Budget constraints means that the new-build home programme for the coming year will fall considerably short of our targets, once more widening the gap between housing demand and supply.

“It is vital that we continue to work in partnership with councils and the housing sector to find solutions.

“In addition to investing in homes and communities in 2023/24, we are also pleased to have been able to support the economic future of Newry, Mourne and Down with a steady, positive impact on employment and local supply chains”.

“Looking ahead to next year there is no doubt that we have challenges to overcome however we remain fully committed to the objectives set out in our Housing Investment Plan 2023 -26.

“Despite these challenges, delivery of our housing objectives is key to the social, economic and environmental benefits of Newry, Mourne and Down.

“Partnerships established with local council remain crucial and I am looking forward to further close working as we strive to deliver against our shared goal of providing better places to live for the people and communities we serve.”