House of Commons - Northern Ireland Affairs

Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs Sixth Report

2 SOCIAL HOUSING - DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Common Waiting List and Common Selection Scheme

16. There has been a Common Waiting List for all applicants for both NIHE and Housing Association general needs accommodation since 1998. In 2000 a new Common Selection Scheme was introduced which applied a points based assessment to applicants; a non-points based list is maintained of applicants with 'complex needs' who require more specialised accommodation; and 'urgent housing need' was renamed 'housing stress' and defined on the basis of an applicant with 30 or more points.[20]

Demand trends

17. The Common Waiting List is the NIHE's key source of information when measuring demand for social housing. The number of waiting list applicants remained broadly the same at around 23,000 through much of the 1990s. Following a slight reduction in 2000-01 (possibly related to reassessment during the introduction of the Common Selection Scheme) the numbers have increased significantly with 2002-03 showing a 6% increase in applicants over the previous year to 26,700, of whom just under half are in housing stress.

18. We heard concerns about the growth in the length of the waiting list for social housing, and there is a strong expectation that demand for such housing will continue to grow over the next 10 years.[21] The Northern Ireland Tenants Action Project and the Housing Community Network told us that:

"It is a source of continuing and growing concern to local community groups across Northern Ireland that the Waiting List for social housing, including the number of applicants in "housing stress" has continued to grow, particularly at a time when it is evident that the provision of new social housing is not keeping pace with the rising levels of housing stress."[22]

We also heard doubts that the Common Waiting List is a true reflection of the actual level of need.[23]

Geographic pattern of demand

19. Demand for social housing across Northern Ireland is uneven. Not unexpectedly the Greater Belfast area has the highest concentration of housing need and housing stress, and the north-west around Londonderry is also identified as an area of high demand. The NIHE pointed to distinctive patterns showing a "clear east/west divide with housing stress heavily concentrated in the urban east and Derry City; and pockets of rural demand in the west".[24]

20. The areas of highest demand within Belfast are in the north and west of the city although we were told that the biggest growth in waiting lists has recently been in areas of South and East Belfast.[25] The NIHE set out its view of the position in Belfast:

"Within the urban east intense housing demand exists, although in different forms: with North and West Belfast driven by family demand and a youthful population structure to sustain such demand; in South Belfast driven by single demand and higher levels of neutral space (in the religious sense); in East Belfast through a mix of elderly/single demand; and in Lisburn through a mix of single and family demand."[26]

The reasons for high demand are varied according to Mr Paddy Gray, lecturer in the University of Ulster: proximity to Belfast, the main hub of economic activity; difficulty in obtaining land for new low cost housing in and around Belfast, and the lack of social housing; the level of house prices in Belfast and the surrounding areas; and socio-demographic forces such as the increased propensity for single living and marriage breakdown. [27]

21. It was suggested to us that there were distinct housing needs in different communities. The University of Ulster told us that "Catholic housing need" manifests itself "in housing shortage in particular locations"; while "Protestant housing need…takes the form of need for house and area rehabilitation and modernisation."[28] This could be dismissed as a gross generalisation,[29] and the University recognised that to categorise all housing in this way would be wrong. However, there is a recognition that, particularly in North Belfast, there is intense pressure for more housing on the Catholic side; while on the Protestant side there are vacant properties and "the need is for improvement to the condition of the housing stock".[30] We saw some evidence of this during our visits to Belfast, and we applaud the efforts of NIHE and others to tackle the issue through the North Belfast Housing Strategy.

Composition of demand

22. Three household types dominated the waiting list for social housing in March 2003: single people (44%), small families (26%) and elderly people (19%).[31]

23. Many respondents drew our attention to the fact that the proportion of single people on the waiting list was increasing. For example, the Housing Council expressed concerns about "the continued growth in single person households" and called for "creative solutions to address this demand";[32] and NIHE thought that "the gradual shift towards increasing the supply of small as opposed to family housing through the social new build programme will continue" and confirmed that "Larger, high density schemes for single people are planned."[33]

24. The DSD acknowledged that single people were the largest household type on the Waiting List, but provided a nuanced view of the nature of that group:

"Single people make up the largest percentage of the waiting list, some 44 per cent, but it is by its very nature a transient market in that there are people who come on to the waiting list and there are people who go off the waiting list. There are those indeed who would put their name down almost speculatively."[34]

We also heard the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations warn that single people did not necessarily mean young people.[35] However, the NIHE told us that the number of younger single people in housing need was indeed on the increase.[36] The Foyer Federation and the Housing Rights Service raised concerns that young single people were disadvantaged by the present points allocation system because:

"It has become normal practice for young people to either remain on the list for a considerable period of time (normally with less than 30 points) or be offered accommodation in areas of low demand where, without appropriate support and facilities, they can find themselves becoming homeless."[37]

25. However, young people were by no means the only group of concern and the Housing Rights Service (HRS) pointed to an increase in the number of older people in housing stress normally as a result of the inaccessibility of their current accommodation. HRS pointed out that this group, and those with disabilities, find it "particularly difficult" to gain access to suitable accommodation.[38]

Homelessness

26. Homelessness in Northern Ireland has increased significantly over the past decade and has reached a disturbingly high level. In 2002-03 there were 16,426 households which claimed they were homeless. This represented a 16% increase over the previous year.[39] The proportion of households presenting as homeless in Northern Ireland according to evidence given by officials to the Committee of Public Accounts' inquiry, Housing the Homeless, is higher than in other parts of the UK.[40]

27. The NIHE has a statutory duty under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 to provide accommodation for certain groups of homeless people. It published a Homelessness Strategy in 2002 which is being implemented in partnership with the statutory and voluntary sectors.[41] Housing the Homeless [42] was highly critical of NIHE for failing to produce a strategy until 14 years after it had assumed responsibility for homelessness services and considered that it had been "complacent".[43] The report was also critical of the Department for Social Development for not providing "sufficient oversight or guidance to NIHE in order to ensure that a strategy was produced sooner".[44]

28. The Committee for Social Development in the Assembly published a report of an inquiry into homelessness in Northern Ireland in June 2002.[45] That report called for homelessness to be "accorded the highest possible priority" and made a number of important and detailed recommendations.

29. The latest figures provided by NIHE for 2003-04 show that although the number of households claiming homelessness increased from 16,426 to 17,150, the number adjudged to be homeless after investigation by the NIHE remained broadly similar to the previous year - 8,594 compared to 8,580 in 2002-03.[46] While this was recorded in sections of the press as levelling off,[47] groups working directly with homeless people were much more cautious. Mrs O'Bryan of the Simon Community said "I think I and my colleagues would be reluctant to jump in and make too many generalisations following one year".[48] The number made homeless through intimidation showed a welcome fall of 22% from 1,618 in 2002-03 to 1,245 in 2003-04.

30. A Promoting Social Inclusion (PSI) Working Group on Homelessness, established under the Assembly Programme for Government and chaired by the DSD, has been examining the issue of homelessness. DSD explained that the aim of the group was to develop an inter-departmental and cross-sectoral response to homelessness.[49]

31. Publication of a report by the Working Group, due to be consulted upon in March 2004, has been delayed and has failed to appear. We asked the Housing Rights Service and Simon Community, which are represented on the Working Group about the delay, and were not reassured to be told that:

"…at one level I would not have concerns because the work that was done in the latter months has been very useful work looking at issues to do with community attitudes to homelessness and taking a commitment to tackle some of those issues… If some of the issues that came in the latter part of the work of that group come out in the final consultation report then that delay would be a delay that has been worthwhile …." [50]

32. We welcome the valuable work being undertaken by the Promoting Social Inclusion (PSI) Working Group on Homelessness, particularly its engagement with voluntary groups working directly with homeless people. We urge the Minister to ensure that this report is published without further delay.

Supply of Social Housing

33. While waiting lists are growing and the number of people in housing stress and homeless is increasing significantly, the pool of social housing is declining dramatically.

34. The main reason for the decline lies in the operation of the house sales scheme. More than 90,000 new dwellings have been built by the NIHE. Since the introduction of the house sales scheme in 1979 a total of 113,661 dwellings have been sold,[51] exceeding the remaining NIHE stock of 103,000[52] "The Housing Executive is losing the equivalent of a large housing management district each year, a trend which has accelerated over the last five years, both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of the remaining stock." In addition, more than 1,000 NIHE dwellings, generally derelict or obsolete, have been demolished annually.[53] The stock owned and managed by housing associations "has increased steadily over the past 10 years to 21,000 dwellings"[54] but this has proved insufficient to compensate for the sale of NIHE stock and to meet increasing demand.

35. There have been problems with the social housing 'new build' programme and this subject is covered more fully later on in this report.[55] Housing associations have been responsible for this programme since 1996 and, as the NIHE delicately put it, "delivery of the social new build programme has been problematic in recent years".[56] DSD figures show that the number of new build dwellings started has fallen by nearly two-thirds over a five-year period from 1,862 in 1998-99 to just 669 in 2002-03.[57] DSD told us that the situation had improved in 2003-04 "This year… we aim to achieve our target or, if we do not, we shall fall short by a very small number."[58] This proved to be over-optimistic. DSD figures published in September 2004 reveal that 1,140 new dwellings were started in 2003-04 against the target of 1,500, a shortfall of almost 25%.[59]

36. This situation of sharply declining supply was considered grave by many who gave evidence to us. For example, the Northern Ireland Tenants Action Project pointed to the consequences for the numbers of those in housing stress:

"… the number of new starts in the social rented sector falls considerably short of what is needed and the conclusion is reached that this is a contributory factor in the increase in the number of people in housing stress. It is clear however that the problem seems to be getting worse rather than better and some significant intervention from government is required to address this serious issue and sooner rather than later."[60]

The Chartered Institute of Housing emphasised the pressure placed on the waiting list "We cannot continue to run a scheme whereby there is a net loss to the social housing provision at a time of escalating waiting list."[61] The Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations pointed out that housing aspirations were likely to be blocked "There has to be a tighter balance between what we sell and what we produce; otherwise people on the waiting list who are living in some of these high demand areas and trying to get housing there will never have their legitimate aspirations met."[62]

Community Development

37. NIHE has a significant role in community development and carries this out mainly through a Housing Community Network which "seeks to involve around 400 community groups in policy, programme and service development. In addition NIHE, often in conjunction with the Department for Social Development's regeneration and voluntary activity units, directly supports capacity measures in individual neighbourhoods or sectors."[63]

38. Fears were expressed by the Northern Ireland Tenants Action Project that the diminishing scale of the NIHE's housing stock could endanger this community role.[64] The Chartered Institute of Housing struck a less concerned note laying emphasis on the NIHE's multi-functional roles which included a "… very serious role in both community development, producing balanced communities and responding to local need" and also " … the responsibility through its cross-tenure role on strategic responsibility for the private rental sector."[65] DSD did not foresee the ongoing reduction in stock through the house sales scheme as posing a threat to the future of NIHE.[66] The NIHA appeared alive to the challenge it will face in balancing the new roles it has been given over the last decade in the context of a falling housing stock. [67]