Derry housing crisis taskforce to be set up after lively council debate

Derry and Strabane Council will set up a Housing Crisis Taskforce to push for social housing and affordable homes across the District.

The taskforce will seek to work with the DfC, the Housing Executive, Housing Associations and other organisations with knowledge and expertise to accomplish its goal.

The council will also write to the Department for Communities calling for action in several areas after a motion was passed at the full council meeting on Wednesday, February 28.

Cllr Shaun Harkin, who proposed the motion, said the issue must be treated with its due significance by Stormont.

"Addressing the chronic lack of housing across the North must be a priority for the restored Stormont Executive,” the People Before Profit councillor said.

“The present supply of social housing units and the projected build will come nowhere near to the level of need. Private home rental costs are skyrocketing because of scarcity and the absence of any price regulation. Unaffordable rents and mortgages are putting tremendous pressure on families and individuals.

“This is putting huge pressure on social housing providers and frontline service providers. We do not want a situation where people are forced to sleep on the streets.

“This all comes back to the lack of social and affordable housing. Government created the housing crisis and it is the duty of the government to fix it. This is a cross-cutting issue that the entire Executive must take responsibility for."

The original motion:

The scale of the housing crisis across the North and in Derry City and Strabane District cannot be understated. Almost 50,000 applicants languish on the social housing waiting list, including almost 6000 in our own District.

Tory privatisation of the social housing stock underpins the housing crisis. Consecutive Stormont Executives have failed to address the housing crisis. Instead, its policies have made the housing crisis worse year on year.

The increasing number of houses being turned into HMOs, guest houses, bed and breakfasts and Airbnbs is compounding the housing crisis. Affordable accommodation in the private rental sector is becoming hard to find for many families and individuals.

Furthermore, there are currently 1500 houses sitting empty across the Derry and Strabane Council District.

In the South, decades of government failure to build social and affordable housing has created a deep social crisis where that has resulted in the dangerous scapegoating of migrants and refugees.

The present strategy of the Department for Communities to address the housing crisis is inadequate and a failure. The restoration of the Stormont Executive is an opportunity to address the housing crisis before it is exploited by far-right organisations to scapegoat migrants and refugees.

Council will write to the Department for Communities Minister calling for an urgent response and urgent action to address the housing crisis that includes:

The immediate multi-year building of at least 1000 social houses a year in targeted areas across the District.

To take immediate action to reduce the number of empty houses across the District in order to create affordable homes for families and individuals.

Council will establish a member-led Housing Crisis Taskforce that will work with the DfC, the Housing Executive, Housing Associations and other organisations with knowledge and expertise to drive forward the building of social housing and affordable homes across the District.

Social housing budget cut

Cllr Farrell said there was not enough money being invested in social housing.

“We're in the midst of a housing crisis and everybody in this chamber knows. The Housing Executive knows it, the housing associations know it, the Department for Communities knows it but there's 6,000 people right across this City and District who are on the waiting list fighting for points every day,” the SDLP councillor said.

“The fact of the matter is not enough houses are being built and, regardless of the number of new builds that are built on an annual basis, the list continues to grow and grow.

“Regardless of the calculations behind the housing needs analysis the list continues to grow and grow and regardless of the ambition of the current housing supply strategy the list will continue to grow and grow.

“We're in the middle of a housing crisis and the budget for social housing has been cut and the current budget isn't enough to put a dent in the housing waiting list and it's certainly not enough to build the number of houses that we need to tackle this problem across our City and District.”

Cllr Farrell said he supported the motion but proposed an amendment adding that Council requests 'ringfenced funding' be secured from the NI Executive to 'comprehensively address the housing crisis across the city and district'.

It also added that they request the implementation of the Empty Homes Strategy.

“We think there needs to be something in there about finance because at governance we had members from the Department for Communities Housing Supply Strategy and they told us that the current budget for social housing across the north was cut to £159m for this year and with the £159m they could build 1500 houses.

“So to build 1000 houses in this City and District would cost £106m which would leave £53m for the rest of the North so I don't think anybody outside Derry and Strabane would be too happy with us,” Cllr Farrell added.

The amendment received unanimous support.

Sinn Féin amendment removes Stormont criticism

Councillor Christopher Jackson proposed an amendment that would remove the following lines from the motion:

• Consecutive Stormont Executives have failed to address the housing crisis. Instead, its policies have made the housing crisis worse year on year.
• The increasing number of houses being turned into HMOs, guest houses, bed and breakfasts and Airbnbs is compounding the housing crisis.
• The present strategy of the Department for Communities to address the housing crisis is inadequate and a failure.

The Sinn Féin councillor said the motion didn’t give credit to his party colleague Deirdre Hargey MLA, who announced a strategy for 100,000 new homes in 15 years in 2021.

“The amendment doesn't take away from any of the actions coming from it but I do feel that the original motion doesn't take into consideration the biggest transformation in the Housing Executive in a generation that was announced by the previous Department of Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey - and there was a specific focus on the Northwest and the housing crisis that we're experiencing,” Cllr Jackson said.

“We have to acknowledge that we as a council have a role as well. It would have been nice for the proposer of the motion to be involved in the work the council is doing when we're developing our local development plan and when we're trying to facilitate housing through our planning committee.

“I know there was a previous member of the proposer's party who tried to block an £8m investment to redevelop a site in the Waterside because it would have removed a hedge that had roosting potential for Birds.”

Cllr Farrell said he would not support Cllr Jackson's amendment as the current strategy has still led to thousands of people waiting on homes.

“The reality is that the current housing strategy, the current housing policy, the current level of funding for housing across the North has led to nearly 6,000 people being on a housing list across this City and District,” he said.

Cllr Harkin said while Cllr Jackson’s amendment doesn't change the actions he believes 'the discussion about who's responsible’ for the crisis is ‘very, very important'.

“In the South right now there are 180,000 empty properties yet we have migrants and Asylum Seekers getting attacked in the streets not far from here because 'they're taking up all the housing': it's a lie,” he said.

“The people who are responsible for the housing crisis in the South, the fact that people can't buy a house, you can't get social housing, is the government and it is the government here too.”

He said the issue is getting worse in the North every year despite 'the great work' the Housing Executive does.

“We can't just turn around and blame Derry and Strabane District Council or an individual councillor who voted one way on a particular issue because that doesn't actually get to the heart of it.”

Cllr Sandra Duffy said a section of the original motion was 'factually incorrect'.

“I'm going to declare an interest as somebody who does work in the homeless sector, somebody who is responsible for providing services, for developing services for homeless people,” the Sinn Féin councillor said.

“I'm going to just comment on one aspect of this proposal and it's in terms of 'the increasing number of houses being turned into HMOs, guest houses, bed and breakfasts and Airbnbs compounding the housing crisis'. That is factually incorrect and how can you support a factually incorrect motion?

“I work in services in this city and at the minute we have over 100 very vulnerable homeless people who are currently in B&B Guest House accommodation, we have a significant student population in HMOs.

“HMOs and B&Bs at this time are solutions to where we're at.

“They're not the ideal solutions in terms of B&Bs and guest houses for people who are vulnerable and homeless but without those solutions at the minute we would have a very significant rough sleeping problem within our city and district and I don't think any of us want to see that.

“In the motion, Cllr Harkin talks about raising the alarm in terms of immigrants being blamed for things across the border but let me tell you this: what is happening here in our city is that very vulnerable homeless people are being scapegoated and blamed for things that go on in this city.

“That is dangerous and the language that you use in this motion is actually dangerous in terms of bringing that to the fore again, Cllr Harkin, and you were at a taskforce where we discussed this and you heard the issues we were facing.

“Sometimes a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing and that's all I want to say.”

The amendment passed with 17 for, 12 against and eight abstentions.

Cllr Harkin said the 'key issue' about the debate is 'we have an escalating housing crisis' and it makes 'no sense' to attempt to 'absolve the Stormont Executive for its role'.

He said he is 'well aware of how the Housing Executive uses temporary accommodation' but does not believe it is a long-term solution.

UUP Alderman Derek Hussey also proposed an amendment to the motion.

His amendment added a paragraph urging the DfC to take action to 'address the blight of derelict houses across the district' and make them liveable or replace them.

It passed unanimously as did the substantive motion.