New Assembly must address Affordable Housing Issues - Robinson
East Antrim Ulster Unionist Party candidate Ken Robinson has warned that a housing crisis is building as prices in the area continue to soar.
Mr Robinson explained, “We have several key elements in this process that, unless they are carefully monitored, will lead to real hardships for many of our citizens.
“In the first instance we have young couples attempting to purchase their first home. They are currently faced with rocketing house prices, a process being fuelled by the entry into the market of speculators many of whom are from outside Northern Ireland. This problem is made worse by the declining number of available public sector houses owned by the NIHE. The young couple then finds themselves pushed towards the private rental sector where rents have also increased dramatically with many around £500+ per month. In this situation the young couple will never be able to purchase their own home without acquiring a mortgage of gigantic proportions. This is a real disincentive to building up settled and stable communities.
“At the other end of the spectrum we have mature home owners who have seen their property value rise to an unbelievable level. They are sitting in homes that are currently valued at £200,000+ in an increasing number of cases. However, they are living on restricted incomes, mostly pensions and investments, so there is little spare cash for repairs or the impending water rates and rates increases. These homeowners made many sacrifices in their earlier years to take on mortgage repayments, educate their families and pay their taxes. Now they are about to face, through no fault of their own, increasing rates and water rates charges and find themselves slipping into the Chancellor’s clutches as Inheritance Tax becomes an issue and worry for an increasing number.
“The new Assembly will need to set up an urgent inquiry into the impact upon individuals and groups that these rapid changes to the housing market are causing. We need to ensure that more social housing is available and that affordable homes are being built to meet the needs of communities rather than to feed the greed of speculators.”