Sewer crisis blocking houses, warn major construction industry figures as they call on Stormont to stop building projects going down the tubes
Struggling sewers across Northern Ireland are sending construction down the tubes, industry representatives have warned after the number of new houses built fell to less than half the amount seen 20 years ago.
Fewer than 5,900 houses were constructed across the province last year. That’s the second lowest number in the past decade and and around 45% of the amount seen in 2005.
An industry body now says stalled house-building here is hitting ordinary people in the wallets, as it contributes to the spiralling price of rent and high costs for aspiring buyers.
And, revealed the body, the situation is driving Northern Ireland’s major property developers away the province, looking to projects in Great Britain or the Republic instead – while some are even threatening to wind up their businesses once their current schemes are finished.
It’s known that sewers in many parts of Northern Ireland are overloaded, with NI Water frequently objecting to planning applications for new developments citing capacity issues with its infrastructure.
Build Homes NI, which represents some of the province’s largest construction figures, is now demanding Stormont leaders fix the problem.
The body’s director, Paul McErlean, said the “consequences of our failing wastewater network are becoming increasingly evident”, from what he described as “historically low levels of housebuilding” to long social home waiting lists.
“Lack of capacity in the system is contributing towards the fastest rising rent and housing costs in the UK and pollution in our loughs and rivers,” he said. “It is also stopping wider economic investment and development.
“This is a system-wide crisis which demands a system-wide solution. Unfortunately, after two years since devolution was restored, there is still no plan to address the underlying problem, which is the executive’s persistent and chronic underfunding of NI Water.”
Mr McErlean added that while Stormont won’t be able to sort out a quick fix to the problem, the executive needs to come up with a long-term plan to get wastewater infrastructure working properly again.
“Agreeing the principle of a solution now would be an outstanding legacy for this executive,” he said, “and a clear demonstration that devolution can deliver for the good of society.
“To help inject some momentum into the process, Build Homes NI recently wrote to the main party leaders requesting that they meet as a matter of urgency to develop an agreed long-term sustainable solution. Much good work in this area has already been progressed and detailed, costed solutions are available to form the basis for discussion.”
In the greater Belfast area alone, pollution problems are so severe that every year 17 million tonnes of untreated or partially treated wastewater is dumped into Belfast Lough.
Yet at the start of 2025, pollution-busting overhauls to the area’s sewage treatment plants and flood defences were mothballed as a result of Stormont budget cuts.
Upgrades of treatment works in Belfast, Holywood and Newtownabbey were supposed to happen over the next couple of years, while the capital city’s six-mile underground storm tunnel was to be substantially extended.
It’s understood that without the upgrades, four Wastewater Treatment Works around the shore of Belfast Lough, crucial to a sewer system serving hundreds of thousands of people, were predicted to be in danger of being declared “non-compliant” with legislation by next year.