APPENDIX 4
Memorandum submitted by the Alliance Party
of Northern Ireland
CURRENT HOUSING
POLICY ENVIRONMENT
In no areas of life is segregation the formal
policy of the state. However, in Northern Ireland segregation
is the de facto practice on the ground, with respect to
education, housing, and the delivery of services and lifestyles,
often with the informal acquiescence of the state.
Yet there is substantial majority support for
mixed or shared facilities. As recorded in the NI Life and Times
surveys, the strongest desire is for mixed workplaces, followed
by mixed housing.
In the public sector, housing has become much
more segregated. Some 80% of estates are regarded as segregated,
in that less than 10% of residents are regarded as coming from
a perceived different section of the community.
To date, the NI Housing Executive has not done
enough to create or maintain mixed housing estates. They have
provided houses with insufficient concern for the promotion of
sharing, and have presided over the further development of segregation.
Alliance believes that the promotion and maintenance of mixed
housing should become an explicit objective of the NI Housing
Executive.
While incentives can be put in place to encourage
people to live together, real progress depends upon removing the
underlying causes that force people to live apart and undermine
mixed areas. At one level, this involves addressing the mindset
of "them" and "us" that pushes people to live
with "their own kind", and at another level, tackling
the sectarian violence and intimidation that creates fear in existing
mixed communities, and deters others from moving into them. Fundamentally,
people need to have a sense of security to live with confidence
in mixed areas, and know that they will be supported in their
choice by society. Alliance addresses these issues in our policy
paper, "Justice and the Rule of Law" (see http://www.allianceparty.org/papers.asp).
At all levels, but particularly, in public sector
estates, segregation is marked out by the use of flags, murals,
kerbstone painting, and other emblems; many of these are paramilitary
in nature. They convey the message that certain areas are the
exclusive preserve of one or other side of the community rather
than common civic space, and that others are not welcome. As a
consequence, previously mixed areas can become segregated, as
some people leave. With the undercurrent of paramilitarism and
associated intimidation or actual violence, it is not realistic
to expect local communities to ask for action from public authorities
or to take action themselves. At present, when someone is intimidated,
the response of the Housing Executive is to move the victim, rather
than to work with other agencies to address the causes of the
intimidation. A contrast is provided by the practice of dealing
with racial intimidation in public housing estates in Great Britain.
Alliance advocates the creation of an Inter-Departmental Working
Group to facilitate an inter-agency approach to the problems of
intimidation in public housing.
Alliance believes that the Housing Executive
and Roads Service should remove flags, murals and graffiti on
their property, in compliance with their requirements under
Equality Legislation, in particular the Fair Employment and Treatment
Order (NI) 1998, and in order to help to create and maintain neutral
living environments. Alliance will hold them to account for their
failure in this regard. Similar symbols of a racial nature would
not be tolerated in Great Britain, and indeed are removed by the
responsible authorities. Alliance will resist attempts to push
the responsibility for dealing with such problems back onto local
communities. This gives local strongmen inordinate influence at
the expense of legitimate voices.
Alliance welcomes the first convictions for
the possession of paramilitary flags. Four individuals were convicted
in Bangor Magistrate's Court on 2 March 2004. The accused were
charged and convicted under Article 13(1) of the Terrorism Act
(2002). Under this legislation, "A person in a public place
commits an offence if he wears an item of clothing, or wears,
carries or displays an article in such a way or in such circumstances
as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a member or supporter
of a proscribed organisation."
The charges related to the erection of a vast
number of LVF Flags in the Loughview Estate in Holywood in summer
2003. It is one of few mixed public housing areas in Northern
Ireland. There was a strong local reaction to the erection of
a range of flags. On two occasions, the police intervened to help
remove flags, and subsequently made a number of arrests.
It is important that authorities are seen to
be taking a stand and that common civic space is defended. Alliance
sees these convictions as a means of providing a strong message
that paramilitaries cannot turn housing estates into ghettoes
with impunity. With this precedent set, this successful action
must not be the last, but the first of many to tackle this scourge.
RISING DEMAND
FOR SOCIAL
HOUSING
Alliance notes the following data from the Housing
Executive report, "The Northern Ireland Housing Market: Review
and Perspectives, 2004-07":
Waiting lists and housing stress
— The waiting list for social housing,
including the number of applicants in housing stress, has continued
to grow, with 26,700 applicants of which 13,237 are in housing
stress (an increase of 6% on the previous year) (p 5).
There is a real demand for social housing in
Northern Ireland. It is particularly concerning that 50% of applicants
are in housing stress. Both the waiting list and housing stress
figures are on an upward trend.
Barriers
— There is a geographical concentration
of housing need, with two-thirds of the growth in housing stress
coming from 12 Housing Executive Districts in and around Belfast;
there are interrelated factors encouraging geographic concentration
in the Belfast region (p 10):
— Job opportunities (Belfast is the
main hub of the Northern Ireland economy).
— Difficulty in obtaining land for
new low cost/affordable housing developments.
— Inadequate supply of new social housing
in the Belfast region.
— Rising level of house prices in and
around Belfast.
We especially note the aspect of the difficulty
in obtaining land for social housing developments. Here, Alliance
proposes further co-operation/integration with other relevant
Departments. We would recommend the Northern Ireland Select Committee
investigate possible remedies. For example, Alliance supports
the use and enforcement of Area Plans to increase the supply of
social housing, whereby a designated part of available land
or a percentage of new-build housing could be allocated by mandate.
There are global examples of using the private housing development
market to realise the goals and needs of social housing in society.
Homelessness
— A 16% increase in the number of households
presenting as homeless (16,426) during 2002-03 (p 5).
— Links with physical and mental health
services should be developed to ensure the health needs of homeless
people are addressed (p 43).
— Links with local voluntary and community
support organisations should be developed to assist resettled
older residents to become part of their local community (p 43).
— The problem of public transport for
rural homeless people (p 44).
— Need for outreach support services
for homelessness caused by domestic violence (p 43).
The examples of older homelessness, rural homelessness,
and homelessness as a result of domestic violence show the need
for inter-agency cooperation. Alliance would encourage further
development of an integrated and interdependent approach to tackling
homelessness in Northern Ireland. We are keen to learn the
Select Committee's opinion and recommendations on this matter.
CONTINUING DECLINE
IN THE
SUPPLY OF
SOCIAL HOUSING
Alliance notes the following data from the Housing
Executive report, "The Northern Ireland Housing Market: Review
and Perspectives, 2004-07" (p 5):
— The programme of providing new social
housing is not keeping pace with rising levels of housing stress.
— The programme in 2001-03 delivered
one-half of the required 1,500 new homes per annum estimated under
the Net Stock Model.
— The Housing Executive estimates 1,750
dwelling are required each year.
— The programme over the next five
years will need to increase by more than 2,000 dwellings.
According to a DSD-commissioned study, land
availability, acquisition and price, planning, and long lead times
were identified as significant factors affecting the delivery
of new build. (This is currently being addressed by a tripartite
group of the DSD, Housing Executive, and Federation of Housing
Associations.) As per our comments above, these are crucial factors
in meeting the demand of social housing. Alliance would implore
the Northern Ireland Select Committee to expedite the work of
the tripartite group in resolving the delivery of new build, and
act on agreed recommendations.
QUALITY OF
HOUSING STOCK
Alliance notes the following data from the Housing
Executive report, "The Northern Ireland Housing Market: Review
and Perspectives, 2004-07" (p 17):
— NI Housing Executive owns and manages
110,000 dwellings (March 2003), but figure is declining each year
by 6,000 because of house sales and demolitions.
There is an apparent irony that the shortage
in supply of social housing stock is partly due to the success
of selling dwellings to eligible occupiers (ie releasing it to
the private housing market). Alliances does not wish to detract
from this scheme, but only point out that an adequate plan to
provide sufficient numbers of dwellings must be in place and exercised,
lest a crisis is caused by continuing house sales and demolitions.
— Condition of stock is good, with
number of dwellings failing the Fitness Standard is minimal.
— Some 10,000 Housing Executive dwellings
need to be brought up to modern day standards, and a backlog of
£150 million.
— Adaptations for disabled and elderly
requires £20 million annually.
— Over 70,000 Housing Executive dwellings
failed the "Decent Home" standard (which is set to become
the national benchmark of quality, based mainly on grounds of
thermal comfort).
We do not concur that a 4.9% unfitness level
is "minimal" (source: 2001 Northern Ireland House Condition
Survey). This represents 31,600 homes, with 3,300 additional properties
becoming unfit through disrepair every year. We acknowledge the
improvement from 1996 (7.3%) and earlier, but the "Review
and Perspectives" recent report itself highlights the backlog
of repairs required. There is the imperative for the Department
of Social Development as well as the Housing Executive to provide
adequate quality housing stock, in addition to pure quantity.
Indeed, the "Decent Home" standard
is higher, and only one-third of the Northern Ireland social housing
stock achieved it. Alliance endorses the higher "Decent
Home" standard as the appropriate indicator of good quality
housing stock. Much of the failure in reaching this standard
in Northern Ireland is due to inadequate "thermal comfort".
Here, there is an invariable link with energy efficiency, conservation,
and fuel poverty.
Fuel Poverty
It is appalling that a third of households in
Northern Ireland—203,000 in total—are in fuel poverty
(ie spend more than 10% of their income to heat their home), in
comparison to 9% of households in England. We acknowledge the
Department of Social Development's consultation paper, which was
issued in October 2003. It is unfortunate that this consultation
occurred during the election campaign for the Northern Ireland
Assembly, which prevented us from providing a response.
Nevertheless, improving energy efficiency and
conservation alone will not significantly reduce the high fuel
poverty figures in Northern Ireland, where our wages are almost
a fifth less and our electricity and fuel charges are 25% higher
than in Great Britain. Indeed, these factors are important contributions
on the debate underway about the reform of water and sewerage
services in Northern Ireland. It is important for elected representatives
and civil servants outside Northern Ireland to appreciate our
particular circumstances, particularly when addressing matters
that would otherwise be the responsibility of a devolved administration.
19 March 2004
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