A cohort of home builders in the north has united to tackle the ‘omnishambles’ crisis caused by the region’s not-fit-for-purpose wastewater infrastructure.
New lobby body Build Homes NI says decades of underfunding represents a political failure that has created a social, environmental and economic crisis.
And it claims at least 16,500 homes worth £3 billion can’t currently be built - simply because their new owner can’t flush the toilet.
The new group’s members, who have collectively invested billions of pounds in construction activity in recent years (including £500 million in 2019/2020 alone), insist: “Enough is enough. This wilful underfunding has created an omnishambles that affects everyone.
“We now need the Stormont Executive to step up to its responsibilities and provide leadership and a proper funding model for NI Water.”
Build Homes NI’s founding members include Alskea, Antrim Construction, Beechview Developments, Braidwater Group, Fraser Partners, Hagan Homes, Lagan Homes, Lotus Homes, and McGinnis Group.
The organisation blames the chronic lack of capacity in wastewater infrastructure for new home completions falling to a 60-year low and contributing to record levels of homelessness.
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They also argue that the poor state of NI Water’s infrastructure is degrading the environment and undermining wider economic growth.
James Fraser, director of Fraser Partners, one of the north’s largest home builders, said: “For years builders have warned that persistently choosing to under-fund NI Water would have consequences. We now have a housing and environmental crisis which, in the absence of workable solutions from the Executive, will continue to get worse.
“House builders want to build homes, but every year the number of areas where we can do so gets smaller. Developers are willing to make more financial contributions, but this is only practical for the largest private developments.
“Localised solutions funded by developers is a sticking plaster solution. Such an approach will be a de facto water charge based on a postcode lottery and will make social housing schemes unaffordable.
“If this is the primary proposal the Executive has, it will fail. Northern Ireland’s wastewater infrastructure is facing a systemic failure which requires a system-wide solution. Only the Executive has the means to tackle the crisis.”
Less than 5,000 new homes were completed in Northern Ireland last year while numbers on social housing lists have risen to a record 47,000 households, including 14,000 on the waiting more than five years.
NI Water, which is funded by the Department for Infrastructure, has identified 100 areas across the north where wastewater infrastructure is restricting development.
At a meeting of Stormont’s infrastructure committee in November, NI Water officials confirmed that they are anticipating up to a £1bn shortfall in funding from the Executive between now and 2027, which is in addition to a £700m funding shortfall between 2015-2021.
Build Homes NI director Paul McErlean said: “Northern Ireland’s wastewater infrastructure simply isn’t fit for purpose as direct result of decades of underfunding by the Executive.
“It’s no coincidence that home building is at a 60-year low whilst homelessness is at a record high, and Northern Ireland house price inflation is double the UK average.
“Homes are becoming unaffordable to buy or rent, and a generation of young people are being priced out of the market.
“NI Water’s creaking infrastructure is also polluting our rivers and beaches and the cost to the economy is enormous.
“In the housing sector alone, there are more than 16,500 homes worth £3bn which can’t be built, while a further 55 manufacturing and hospitality projects have been shelved or relocated elsewhere.
“We need the Executive to step up to its responsibilities and provide leadership and a proper funding model for NI Water.”
Build Homes NI says it aims to expand its membership to other organisations in the housing sector and provide evidence-based research to help inform debate.