Assembly Roundup: January 2016

A roundup of recent housing related questions asked in the Assembly. 

Waiting List

To ask the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of single people on the housing waiting list aged (i) 18-21; (ii) 22-31; (iii) 32-41; (iv) 42-55; (v) 56-65; and (iv) over 65 broken down by gender, in each constituency. Mr David McNarry, UK Independence Party. AQW 51996/11-16

The information is not available in the format requested because the Housing Executive does not record the number of single people on the waiting list by the age groups requested. However, the table below has been prepared based on age groups according to the Housing Executive’s Household Composition procedures which categorise households as under 18, 18-25, 26-59 & 60+.

The table also shows the Waiting List as at 30 September 2015 broken down by single person household types, age group and gender. It is important to point out that the Housing Executive’s method of categorising households over 60 means that this figure will contain a small number of households that have a second person aged 16 or over.

In relation to parliamentary constituencies, a number of Housing Executive Common Landlord Areas (CLAs) overlap parliamentary constituency boundaries, which are detailed in the table.

Affordable Rents

To ask the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of houses identified as affordable rented accommodation due to be built in (a) 2016-17; and (b) 2017-18. Mr David McNarry, UK Independence Party AQW 51910/11-16

As the 2016/17 to 2018/19 Social Housing Development Programme is still under consideration, I am therefore unable to provide the information you requested at this time. I am hopeful that the new plan will be published early in the new year.

Renovations

To ask the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of kitchen refurbishments that have been cancelled for Northern Ireland Housing Executive tenants in the last twelve months due to insufficient funding. Mr Stewart Dickson, Alliance Party AQW 51819/11-16

This is an operational matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, which has advised me that it has not cancelled any kitchen refurbishments in the last 12 months due to insufficient funding. However, the expected start dates of some kitchen schemes have been re-profiled.

Fuel Poverty

To ask the Minister for Social Development how many (i) heating system improvements; (ii) windows and draught proofing measures; and (iii) insulation measures have been completed under the Affordable Warmth Scheme. Mr Basil McCrea, NI21 AQW 51744/11-16

Since the start of the Affordable Warmth Scheme up to 30th November 2015 the following measures have been completed:

• 722 heating system improvements;
• 586 windows and draught proofing measures; and,
• 607 insulation measures.

The Information provided in this response is governed by the Principles and Protocols of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. This is enforced by UK Statistics Authority.

To ask the Minister for Social Development whether new referrals to the Affordable Warmth Scheme can be made before April 2016. Mr Basil McCrea, NI21 AQW 51743/11-16

The Affordable Warmth Scheme is a new and innovative approach to tackling fuel poverty. It was launched in September 2014 and targets households considered to be on a low income and at risk of extreme or severe fuel poverty. Householders are identified using a targeting tool developed by the Ulster University; however, Councils have autonomy to accept referrals into the scheme from non targeted vulnerable households.

It has taken time for the scheme to bed in, which is comparable to the service experienced by householders in the early days of the former Warm Homes Scheme. The Affordable Warmth Scheme is targeted at households in areas of severe and extreme fuel poverty. Councils visit properties within these targeted areas and refer households who may be eligible to the Housing Executive to process a grant application. There is clear evidence that the targeted area based approach is working and councils are finding households in severe fuel poverty in need of energy efficiency improvements.

It is important to manage the expectation of householders who have already been surveyed and are awaiting an approval from the Housing Executive. In view of the volume of referrals already in the system, the Housing Executive and councils are working collaboratively to progress the outstanding cases as quickly as possible.

I want to assure you that while the focus is on the cases already received, my Department has been very clear to both local councils and the Housing Executive that vulnerable households in urgent need must continue to be referred to the scheme and they will be treated as a priority.

To ask the Minister for Social Development how many oil boilers have been installed through grants since his Department commissioned a University of Ulster Study on fuel poverty in 2010; and what was the total cost in grants. Mr Basil McCrea, NI21 AQW 51677/11-16

The Warm Homes Scheme which ended on 31 March 2015 and the Affordable Warmth Scheme which replaced it both provide new heating systems, oil, gas and wood pellet, where the householder meets the qualification conditions. The Housing Executive does not routinely collect information in a format which can easily be extracted about the type of boiler replaced or installed in the Warm Homes Scheme or for the Affordable Warmth Scheme. I have asked the Housing Executive to put arrangements in place to collect this information in a format which can be easily extracted in the future.
Under the Warm Homes Scheme a total of 5,194 heating measures were provided at a cost of £24.4m. This figure includes any heating measures provided under the first Affordable Warmth Pilot which was conducted in 2012. Under the second Affordable Warmth Pilot, 135 heating measures were provided at a cost of £233k.

The Affordable Warmth Scheme was introduced in September 2014 and since then 654 households have had heating measures installed. However, at an average approval value of £3,800 which may include other energy efficiency improvement measures, the estimated cost for those completions is about£2.5m.

Under the Boiler Replacement Scheme the level of grant available depends on the type of new boiler installed. A total of 15,547 oil boilers have been provided under the Boiler Replacement Scheme at a cost of £10.9m.

Overall my Department has spent over £38m to install new and replacement energy efficient boilers.

Rural Issues

To ask the Minister for Social Development to outline his strategy to improve the condition of social housing in rural areas. Mr Declan McAleer, Sinn Féin AQO 9153/11-16

I am committed to improving the condition of social housing throughout Northern Ireland, regardless of whether this is in a rural or urban setting. I am keen to see the number of new social homes continue to increase in rural areas and also to ensure that the necessary investment continues to be delivered in these areas. In terms of delivering new social homes housing activity in rural areas is identified by the Housing Executive through its Rural Action Plan, and is then delivered through the successful Social Housing Development Programme.

Analysis by the Housing Executive of the condition of its stock has suggested that there is no significant difference between the condition and investment requirements of rural and urban stock.

On the basis of the information collected during the DSD/ NIHE Asset Commission, the Housing Executive is currently planning its future investment activity. Delivery of the investment needed will require considerably increased resources to be available to the NIHE.

In the meantime necessary investment continues to be made, including in rural stock, through planned and response maintenance, and in line with the Interim Investment Plan.

To ask the Minister for Social Development what his Department is doing to increase the availability of affordable housing in rural areas. Mr Kieran McCarthy, Alliance Party AQO 9340/11-16

The Northern Ireland Co-Ownership Housing Association (NICHA) continues to be my Department’s main delivery partner for the provision of affordable homes across Northern Ireland. I have recently secured £88.4 million in Financial Transactions Capital (FTC) loan funding for the Co-Ownership Scheme for the period 2015/16 to 2018/19. It is anticipated that this funding, in conjunction with its private funding will permit NICHA to deliver over 2,400 additional affordable homes in all areas, including in rural communities.

In recognition of the sustained high demand for affordable housing, my Department is involved in piloting a number of initiatives to further widen access to affordable housing through the Affordable Home Loans Fund (AHLF).

Refugees

To ask the Minister for Social Development for an update on his Department's work to support refugees. Mr Sydney Anderson, Democratic Unionist Party AQO 9348/11-16

As members will be aware, a group of 51 Syrian refugees arrived in Northern Ireland on 15 December past. I am happy to report that the plans which were put in place worked very effectively. The arrangements at the airport worked smoothly and the refugees were taken through the necessary processes and transferred to the welcome centre without incident. The refugees stayed at a welcome centre in Belfast for three nights and during that time they were helped through some essential initial processes around residency permits and benefit applications and provided with some introductory information on life in Northern Ireland. I am pleased to be able to report that one of the interpreters who assisted us at the welcome centre said that he had worked at several similar locations in other parts of the United Kingdom and the quality of response in Northern Ireland was by some distance the best that he had seen. On the Friday after their arrival all of the refugee families had been successfully settled into their new accommodation.

I had the privilege of meeting with the refugee families while they were at the welcome centre. It was clear that they all were very grateful for the kindness and support that had been shown to them and for the opportunity to make new lives for themselves in a safe place. I would like to offer my thanks to all those who helped to make this operation such a success, especially the British Red Cross who organised all the arrangements at the airport and the welcome centre, the staff of the welcome centre itself and the staff of the Social Security Agency and Northern Ireland Housing Executive who worked with the individual families.

Food Banks

To ask the Minister for Social Development to detail (i) the number of food banks in operation; and (ii) the number of people that have used food banks in each of the last three years, broken down by constituency. Mr Steven Agnew, Green Party AQW 52840/11-16

The Department for Social Development does not hold the detail of either the number of food banks in operation in Northern Ireland or the number of people who have used food banks in each of the last three years, broken down by constituency