Affordable rent scheme to deliver 300 homes launched but Armstrong is critical
Housing Minister Gordon Lyons has announced the next steps in a new initiative to support renters who find themselves priced out of the mainstream private rental sector, but Kellie Armstrong MLA says he needs to go further to address the housing issue.
The Intermediate Rent scheme will create a new supply of affordable rented homes across Northern Ireland at below market rents.
Minister Gordon Lyons today announced that he will provide funding to Maple & May to deliver 300 new homes at an affordable rent, some of which will start construction within the next year.
Minister Lyons said:xa0“As Minister for Housing, I am determined to increase the supply of good quality, affordable housing, and to expand the affordable housing options available to people and families.
“This commitment is outlined not only in the Housing Supply Strategy, but also in the Programme for Government.
“I am pleased to reach this significant milestone, partnering with Maple & May to deliver the first affordable rent homes here as Intermediate Rent Operator. These will be high quality new build houses, providing excellent homes.”
Intermediate Rent is a new affordable private rental product for the Northern Ireland housing market, offering high quality, longer term housing to eligible lower income households.
“It offers homes at discounted rents, helping those struggling with the cost of open market private rentals and others who are saving towards home ownership.
Maple & May plan to deliver these new homes in areas of housing need, both within mixed tenure developments, alongside social and private homes, and as standalone Intermediate Rent sites.
Minister Lyons added:xa0“Many hard working people and families are struggling to access a home suited to their needs, made worse by increasing rents and insecurity in the private rented sector, while demand continues to exceed supply for social homes.
“Providing affordable homes for rent is an important step in addressing that need.
“When I launched the Executive’s Housing Supply Strategy a few weeks ago, I said we had to be innovative and radical when it comes to tackling our housing issues.
“There is a collective effort across government, the housing sector and private sector to deal positively with the challenges we face.
“Intermediate Rent is a key strand of this. I am pleased to see it progressing and look forward to seeing this transformational scheme become reality.
Jon Anderson, Development Director at Maple & May, said: “We believe that people deserve great services and standards in homes and this is an exciting opportunity for Maple and May to deliver 300 new affordable homes across Northern Ireland.
“As the first Intermediate Rent Operator in Northern Ireland, we plan to address housing need by building intermediate homes for rent, both within mixed tenure developments, alongside social and private homes.
“And we will also address standalone Intermediate Rent sites enabling further options for eligible lower income households to apply for a high quality and stable home at a more affordable rent.”
Although the value of the funding remains to be confirmed, it will contribute towards the delivery of the first 300 new affordable Intermediate Rent homes in Northern Ireland. Once built, eligible lower income households can apply for a tenancy with rents set at least 20% below market rent levels for the locality.
The Department will work with Maple & May to deliver homes as expediently as possible, with an ambition that the first tenancies will be in place from late 2026.
(Minister Lyons’ Written Statement can be accessed on the Northern Ireland Assembly website.)
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Protections for private renters must go further says Armstrong
Protections for private renters in Northern Ireland must go further, Alliance Housing spokesperson Kellie Armstrong MLA has said.
She was speaking after Communities Minister Gordon Lyons confirmed he will introduce regulations to limit private rent increases during tenancies to once per year.
The Strangford MLA Ms Armstrong said while this was a needed move, more needed to be done, as outlined in Alliance’s recent New Deal for Private Renters policy paper.
“Private renters in Northern Ireland face constant challenges on a regular basis.”
“That includes the constant threat of rent hikes from some landlords who use the fact they have tenants as an excuse to profiteer. The Minister’s scheme, which will limit those increases to once a year is therefore well needed.
“However, it does not go far enough.
“The unfortunate fact is it will not stop some greedy landlords from trying to make money by increasing that rent by a larger amount to profiteer.
“The Communities Minister needs to go further and introduce legislation to ban inflation-busting rent increases.
“That was one of the many proposals outlined in Alliance’s recent New Deal for Private Renters paper, which also included a suggestion for the creation of a new Housing Ombudsman.
“That would protect renters and hold landlords to account, in order to ensure fairness across the board.”
