SDLP Housing spokesperson Dolores Kelly has expressed her shock and deep disappointment at news that the Social Development Minister is to return more than £17m of unspent funds from three months alone which had been earmarked for Housing.

The Upper Bann MLA was speaking on the eve of the 50th Anniversary of the Campaign for Social Justice which was born out of attempts to challenge the inequalities in housing provision which plagued the North at the time.

Ms Kelly said: "Once again the Minister for Social Development, Nelson McCausland, has failed to step up to the mark and challenge in a robust way, the deep levels of housing stress that many communities across the North find themselves thrust into.

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"At a time when the number of applicants on the Housing Waiting List has increased by around 20% in the last year, we can ill-afford to be handing money back which could be used to alleviate the intense anxiety that many families are feeling. This is especially evident in areas like Derry and Strabane where the waiting list has increased by up to 55% over the last 5 years.

"The Minister has handed back £10m designated for new builds and a further £7m earmarked for maintenance. Those families who find themselves almost perpetually on the waiting list, desperately waiting for good news, will be disappointed and angered to learn of the latest in a litany of failures by Minister McCausland to address their plight.

"Failures such as the Girdwood site in North Belfast which continues to lie obsolete, further compounding the misery for the 2496 people in that area waiting for housing relief."

(CD/JP)