Providing a home in tough times

The Housing Association sector as a whole in Northern Ireland exceeded the new build target for the year of 1800 units by collectively starting work on 1838 new homes. However, with  a social housing waiting list of 38,120, 19,716 of which are deemed to be in housing stress it is clear that there is still much for Northern Ireland’s housing associations to do before every family has access to a high quality home that they can afford.

Investment in social housing delivers wide-ranging benefits - empowering individuals and communities, promoting social mobility and supporting economic growth.

Reasons to support continued funding for social housing include -

To Meet Growing Demand: The number of people on the social housing waiting list has increased by 19.5% over the past five years, exacerbating the housing crisis and its impact on families throughout Northern Ireland.  The need for more social homes has never been greater.

To Promote Economic Recovery: Housing will play a critical role in the economic recovery of Northern Ireland.  Spending on housing generates high economic return – protecting and creating jobs, offering employment and training opportunities.  Modelling by Oxford Economics demonstrates that due to the economic multiplier effect, for every £1 spent on house building, £1.40 in gross output will be generated across the economy as a whole[2].

To Create a Fairer Society: Housing provides improved quality of life, increased opportunities and improved social mobility for the least well-off in society.

To Ensure Value for Money: The development of new affordable homes through housing associations offers exceptional value for money.  Housing associations build new homes using a mix of privately sourced finance and government funding to maximise the number of homes built.  Clanmil housing currently has assess to £27 million of private finance to contribute towards the social housing development programme. This funding is dependant on the availability of housing association grant.

To Reduce Spending on Health, Education and Crime Reduction: Housing makes a key contribution to achieving the Northern Ireland Agenda for Government aspirations in relation to health, education and crime.  Investment in new affordable housing has a critical role in improving health, raising educational achievement and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

To Reduce Expenditure on Acute Services: Housing related support provides services for vulnerable people, such as older people and people with mental health problems, which prevent them accessing  more expensive public services.  For every £1 spent in GB on providing housing support for vulnerable people nearly £2 is saved in reduced costs of health services, tenancy failure, crime and residential care

To Help Support Vulnerable People: The Supporting People budget for Northern Ireland has been base lined for the past three years and is insufficient to meet the demand to continue to provide existing services and indeed to provide for new services in the future.

Continued funding for social housing will help meet the aspiration that any reductions in spending will not be to the detriment of the most vulnerable individuals and communities in our society.

A decent home is one of the most fundamental rights a person has.  As well as a place to call home, a place to raise a family in a safe and sustainable neighbourhood, a decent home has a positive impact on people’s lives way beyond “a roof over your head”.

 Housing associations play a key role in empowering communities; helping families manage their finances; tackling child poverty; fuel poverty; supporting older people and other vulnerable members of our society to live independently; encouraging responsible citizenship.

Here are some of Clamils tenants describing the impact that a good home has had on their lives –

Last year Delores moved into a one-bed apartment at a Clanmil scheme for active older people in Belfast.  Delores is really enjoying life in her new home.  She says: “I had to move from my old house because it had got too big for me and I couldn’t manage the stairs anymore.  Now I have a ground floor flat that’s perfect for me. It’s a nice quiet area to live in too, although I enjoy the activity around me with the families and the kids playing.  I felt a bit isolated before but the community spirit here is fantastic.”

Roy, his wife and five children moved to a Clanmil home from a small three bedroom terrace house rented from a private landlord.  Roy says:“We’ve waited 10 years to get a house like this but it’s definitely been worth the wait.  We’ve got four bedrooms now and a garden for the kids.  It’s exactly what we needed and I can’t tell you how glad we were to get it.  It’s so safe for the children.  I’ve no worries about them playing out and about and they’ve made lots of new friends.”

Michael (age 23) is disabled and lives in a Clanmil house that has been adapted for his needs as a wheelchair user and he is very clear on how his new home has improved his life.  Michael says: “Everything about this house has helped improve my life – the size of the rooms, the width of the hall, having my bedroom downstairs and my own bathroom, and most of all the garden.  I just love it - it’s given me something to get out of bed for. Before I moved here I’d hardly been out of bed for two and a half years but now I can come and go as I please.  In fact, I’ve just enrolled on a college course. I waited five years to move here and now it has completely transformed my life.”