Funding to build 50,000 homes by 2032 must be secured by the Executive, according to SDLP Opposition Communities Spokesperson Daniel McCrossan.

The West Tyrone MLA also said: "There is no doubt that we are in the midst of a serious housing emergency in the North that will only get worse in the years ahead without urgent, decisive action."

Speaking ahead of the party's opposition day motion, Mr McCrossan suggested that the plan could be financed by ring-fence Barnett Consequential funding from house building in England and Wales.

"Our social housing waiting list sits at over 47,000, many first-time buyers have zero prospect of getting on the housing ladder and rents are getting more expensive all the time," he said.

"In many areas more and more properties are being bought up for use as second homes or Airbnbs, pricing young people out of their communities, while others have been left lying vacant for years.

-- Advertisement --

"Attempts to address these issues have been nothing short of pathetic. Despite numerous commitments to embark on an ambitious programme of house building, this year will see just hundreds of new social houses built, while the Housing Executive continues to sell off their stock making the difference negligible at best."

He added: "Private housing developments are being held up by the underinvestment in wastewater infrastructure and as these problems mount the Executive is doing little to address them. As Executive failure and inaction remain the order of the day, homelessness continues to rise."

Mr McCrossan recognised the problem will not be solved immediately, however, criticised the current handling of the housing issue while offering the SDLP's solution to the problem.

"The previous Sinn Féin Communities Minister pledged to build 100,000 homes by 2037 without any proper plan or housing supply strategy in place," he said.

"Predictably, that grandstanding has amounted to nothing and the current Communities Minister has followed in that vein. What we need to see now is Executive Ministers working together to address these issues and we believe that the first step is recognition of the serious housing emergency we are facing.

"The SDLP's proposal is an ambitious plan to build 50,000 homes by 2032. This can be partly paid for through a commitment that any Barnett Consequential funding from house building in England and Wales be ring-fenced to build new homes here.

“This is not a problem that is going to be solved overnight, but is an important start if we want to deliver everyone in the North with a decent standard of home. The Executive cannot continue to sit on its hands and moving the goalposts every few years when it comes to house building, supporting buyers and lowering our social housing waiting lists."