Sinn Fein minister's budget proposals will mean higher rents and fewer social houses - Lyons

Gordon Lyons has told the News Letter that John O’Dowd’s spending plans are £200m less than his department requires over the next four years – and don’t follow the executive’s priorities.

The comments come amid a growing row in the administration over proposed budget allocations – with the DUP telling the finance minister his plans are “deeply flawed” and in need of “significant changes”.

However, Mr O’Dowd has said he is in listening mode, and told his Executive colleagues to come back with their own proposals.

The row has led to allegations from the TUV that the multi-party executive is in chaos – and failing in its most basic role.

Communities minister Gordon Lyons has now criticised his budget allocation – arguing that it is well short of a target for new homes in Northern Ireland. He says this will impact housing waiting lists, and add pressure to the private rental sector – driving rents up.

“I want to hit a target during this mandate of 5850 homes. I'm probably going to be around 500 short on that. But it gets worse as the years go on, because the cumulative effect of that shortfall will mean that we'll be over 2000 units short of where we need to be.

“This is so important, because every home that we don't build here puts more pressure on the private rented sector and puts up rents – that's where people are really struggling right now. So this is critical. I have done everything that I can to make the money go as far as it can”, the DUP minister said.

Mr Lyons said his department is looking at how public land is used to build cheaper homes, and says he has changed the funding allocations to encourage housing associations to use more private finance. The minister also says design specifications on homes are being changed, so they aren’t all built to the most expensive standards, and the focus is “on getting good quality homes”.

“I've done everything that I can do, but I need Sinn Fein to be clear – are they going to prioritise social housing or not? And if, if they're not, they need to explain that to the public, because this is not a budget that prioritises social housing”.

The DUP minister said that Sinn Fein have signed off the housing supply strategy and the targets within it – as well as the programme for government. He says the proposed draft budget is not following the executive’s priorities, and it should be following those first before it allocates funds to other projects.

“If the executive has agreed a programme for government, it should follow that the budget reflects the priorities outlined in the programme for government. That's why this budget is a problem, because it does not ensure that the money goes towards one of our headline targets.

“We didn't have many targets in the programme for government. We didn't put many of those in, but we did have one when it came to social housing. I understand we're in a constrained budgetary environment. I understand the need for us to make sure that we stretch that funding as far as possible.

“So I've actually put myself in a position where I'm trying to help stretch the money that we have to make it go further – put in place common sense changes. There's only so far I can take that. If the executive decide this isn't a priority, they should come out and actually say that”.

Asked about John O’Dowd’s challenge to other ministers to bring forward their own proposals if they oppose his, Mr Lyons said he would talk about changes – but the starting point should be “looking at what is essential, looking at what we have already agreed”.

“We have agreed this already, we have agreed to the house building program. We should stick to that, and then we look at other issues”, the communities minister said.