"No chance" of getting the 5,000 houses needed in Causeway Coast and Glens area says Storey

It follows the publication of the NI Housing Executive’s (NIHE) Commissioning Prospectus, which was presented to members on Wednesday, and identified the need for 5,600 new houses across the district between 2016 and 2030.

At a Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday, August 28, Cllr Storey said the prospectus was useful, but the NIHE has been “asked to do the impossible over the years”.

“In terms of delivery it has no chance,” he added. “So we have a housing crisis, the Executive is powerless and have hamstrung the NIHE, and this is another example where it’s all words but words don’t ease the crisis.”

“Papers and process don’t deliver homes and we still have no idea despite all the promises of 100,000 homes over ten years, which is probably as deliverable as getting the two astronauts back from the International Space Station.

“I think we’re at a loss. We’re a planning authority and we’re left at sea. NI Water tells us we can’t have connections, this document tells us the need, and nobody is doing it.”

Referring to an invitation he had extended in May to Communities Minister Gordon Lyons and NIHE representatives, Cllr Storey added: “The Executive is doing absolutely nothing, so I hope that the Minister at least is prepared to come to this council and tell us clearly how are they going to resolve the issue of housing in Northern Ireland.”

PUP Councillor Russell Watton agreed that housing was the “major issue in this borough”.

“One of our budget projections was 400 houses in a year,” he said, “and our meagre allocation was just three percent or just 12 houses.”

“That will [not] cut a lot of mustard in this borough, so something has to be done because the situation is getting more dire every year.”

Sinn Féin Councillor Oliver McMullan noted that Mr Lyons had not committed to attending the council meeting in December and proposed an alternative meeting at Stormont: “If he’s not going to come here, then we go to him.”