AQW 18395/17-22 Written question to the Minister for Communities
To ask the Minister for Communities for an update on the progress made to take forward the recommendations published by the Housing Supply Forum in 2016.
Asked by Kellie Armstrong MLA on 5 May 2021
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 5 May 2021
- Answer due by
- 20 May 2021
- Answered
- 18 May 202113 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for Communities
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The Housing Supply Forum Report made 10 recommendations to increase housing supply.
A table setting out progress against each recommendation is included below. It should be noted that not all recommendations are for DfC to consider and I have not sought updates on those that fall to other departments.
| No. | Recommendation | Lead Department / Update |
| 1 | Consideration should be given to adopting a policy of “presumption in favour of sustainable development” | Department for Infrastructure |
| 2 | Publication and analysis of key performance information arising from local council planning decisions should be undertaken at suitably regular intervals for each council area. | Department for Infrastructure |
| 3 | Consideration should be given to completion of a mapping exercise overlapping demand with availability and zoning information and to allowing the construction industry to have access to data on available public land. To enable this to be progressed a meeting should be convened with the DFP Minister / OFMDFM with a view to targets being set for the release of publically owned land. | Department for Communities The Public Land for Housing Project ran from May 2017 to March 2021. The Project has : Developed a digital map of DfC assets which has been published online on the Spatial NI platform; Provided the baseline data for the Land and Property Services (LPS) Government Land and Property Register (GLPR) project; and Developed new collaborative cross departmental partnerships to explore the release of unused land across the public sector. The Project was also set and achieved a Programme for Government target to identify and secure the release of 10 sites for housing by March 2021. |
| 4 | There should be increased encouragement and support from Government for joint ventures between housing associations and private developers, including ‘design and build’ | Department for Communities Through the Social Housing Development Programme, Housing Associations bring forward a number of schemes under the competitive design and build method of procurement each year. This has been increasing year on year and provides much needed social housing in areas of greatest need. A review of this procurement method is currently underway. The Department has been working to ensure that the Council’s Local Development Plans approach is procurement compliant. When considering proposed housing developments, where a social housing need has already been identified, local councils can require private developers to provide a certain number/percentage of affordable homes within their Local Development Plans. |
| 5 | We recommend that independent empirical research be carried out with both statutory authorities and the development community into housing delivery time frames, to determine the actual time frames being experienced. | Department for Communities Recommendation not progressed at this time |
| 6 | Housing policy should encompass the sector as a whole, rather than its constituent parts. | Department for Communities The Department will soon publish the Call for Evidence on the draft Housing Strategy. The Strategy proposes a whole system approach to addressing Housing challenges. The whole system approach emphasises the central role of people, places and communities in considering and delivering on our housing needs and demands. |
| 7 | Powers should be available to the new local councils to enable sites to be assembled for the benefit of the whole community and to ensure the appropriate delivery of housing need. As the new councils are new entities, additional or amended legislation may be required | Department for Communities Recommendation not progressed at this time |
| 8 | Consideration should be given to the methodology used to calculate Road and Sewer Bond values and the release of bond capital in a timely manner as construction proceeds. There should also be investigation of whether there is an alternative approach, other than bonds, which would still ensure a high standard of infrastructure | Department for Infrastructure |
| 9 | Any further increase in Building Regulation requirements incurring additional build costs should be deferred until volumes have recovered significantly. | Department of Finance |
| 10 | We suggest conducting a pilot study to track selected housing development projects through the approval and delivery process with the purpose of identifying and removing barriers or blockages that may exist in the current system to enable a more streamlined process to be developed for NI. This should be with a view to examining the potential for the establishment of a Virtual Delivery Unit at an appropriate time. | Department for Communities Recommendation not progressed at this time |