Housing Rights are concerned that the level of funding allocated to the Department for Communities by the Draft Budget will severely limit any benefits that could have been achieved by the switch to a multi-year budget. Allocations do not reflect the current inflation rate of 3.4% and will therefore amount to real-term funding cuts for the Department for Communities.
The allocations risk the defunding of work that is not directly related to statutory duties, endangering vital homelessness prevention work across the voluntary and community sector. Ensuring everyone in Northern Ireland has access to a safe, sustainable and affordable home will reduce long-term costs, deliver better outcomes across communities, health, justice and education, and create a more prosperous society. Homelessness prevention is not only about homelessness, although that should be reason enough to justify adequate funding. It is about public health, tackling inequality, reducing criminality and delivering a healthier economy.
Doing so would be a dramatic departure from the NI Executive’s strategic priorities as outlined in the Programme for Government and would undermine the policy intent of cross-cutting and Departmental strategies in the areas of housing supply, homelessness, justice and health.
The EQIA identifies major adverse impacts across all protected Section 75 groups in respect of the Department for Communities allocation. We therefore urge the Department of Finance to increase the capital allocation awarded to DfC, so that it may meet its long term strategic priorities of tackling inequality, preventing homelessness and building sufficient housing stock to meet need.
Our recommendations:
- Prioritise homelessness prevention within the Budget
- Increase DfC’s capital allocation with a view to enable the Department to build on a larger scale to meet need as a long-term solution to the housing crisis and ensure access to safe sustainable and affordable homes.
- Provide sufficient funding to enable the delivery of decarbonisation and a truly ‘Just’ Transition, and meet commitments under the new Fuel Poverty Strategy
- End the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s House Sales Scheme
- Remove the Early Discount from the Rating System