Building on the city deal requires better housing

By Mark Graham, Chief Executive of Co-Ownership

With the good news that government has returned most are willing to put aside scepticism and hope that things can be better this time. A hope that this time we will tackle the big long-term issues our society faces including housing.

Housing hasn’t received much prominence to date, which is perhaps understandable given the need to deal with urgent items such as public sector pay and agreeing a sustainable spending plan. I wonder if it’s also because we struggle to think about how housing fits in the bigger picture of long-term economic growth and wellbeing. We mostly talk about housing two ways – as investment vehicles, as assets that go up and down in value, and also homes as a human right, and understandably focus on the unacceptable number of people that are homeless, living in housing stress or struggling with affordability.

These are not wrong ways of looking at housing, but we do also need to talk more about housing as a critical part of our infrastructure. Housing is as important to our continued prosperity as transport, water, electricity, and broadband. Good quality affordable homes are the foundation for people’s safety, their health, their educational success, and their long-term wellbeing. Unfortunately, too many people here live in poor quality, unaffordable homes that don’t offer the sense of security and community belonging that is so important to people’s life chances. Poor housing is a drag on our economic success, so as much as any other area of infrastructure, we need to invest in it over the long term.

There is the consensus that we are not building enough homes to match the growth in households, and that we’ve not been building enough homes since the Global Financial Crisis. The Department for Communities Housing Supply Strategy provides the evidence for this and provides a strategic framework to address the challenges of building more homes. But of course, it isn’t as simple as building more houses.

We need to get the product offering right. Home ownership will remain the preference of the majority, as generally it provides the quality, security, and sense of agency that people want. House prices do remain relatively affordable here, compared at least to other regions, but home ownership is not as accessible as it once was for young people, particularly those without the support of family. Co-Ownership plays an integral role in addressing this issue, with more than 32,000 people supported since 1978. Our most recent Social Impact Survey revealing that four in every five of our customers report improved wellbeing, and a half reporting that they would remain in the rental sector if our shared ownership model was not available in Northern Ireland.

Home ownership is not suitable for everyone, nor is it what people need at every stage of their lives. So, we also need to build more social homes, and create a better private rented product.

We also need Planning to play its proper role to shape the places that homes are built and ensure they are safe and attractive places to live with good access to schools, health, and recreation facilities. And places that are environmentally sustainable.

With our Executive now re-established, we have some hope that housing will get the focus it needs. There are no short-term fixes. We need sustained investment over the long-term and a continued focus on unblocking what gets in the way of building more homes. We need our public and private sectors to work together more effectively and the different parts of Government to do likewise.

Co-Ownership will continue to play its part by advocating for a better life for people across Northern Ireland, and highlighting the economic and social impact quality, affordable housing can deliver.