Northern Ireland Housing Executive facts for kids

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) is the main public body in charge of housing in Northern Ireland. It is the biggest landlord for social housing there. This means it owns and manages many homes for people who need them. The NIHE also makes sure that houses are safe and in good condition. As of 2020, about 2,865 people worked for the NIHE.

What the Housing Executive Does

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has several important jobs:

• It regularly checks how good housing conditions are and what kind of homes people need.
• It creates plans to make sure these housing needs are met.
• It deals with houses that are unsafe or need to be knocked down.
• It works to improve the condition of existing homes.
• It encourages the building of new houses.
• It provides information and advice about housing.
• It works with local councils and other housing groups.
• It manages all the homes it owns across Northern Ireland.

The NIHE is also responsible for helping people save energy in their homes. It helps people who are homeless and manages the housing benefit system, which helps people pay for their homes.

History of Housing in Northern Ireland

Before the Housing Executive

Before the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was created, local councils mostly managed public housing. However, the rules for voting in council elections were not fair. Only people who paid local taxes (ratepayers) could vote. This meant that many people, like young adults living with their parents or people renting rooms, could not vote.

This unfair system sometimes led to housing being given out unfairly. For example, some councils were accused of giving homes to people based on their political views, often to keep one political group in power. This unfairness was a big reason why the Northern Ireland civil rights movement started in the late 1960s.

After some public unrest in 1968–69, a special report by Lord Cameron looked into the problems. It found that unfair housing was a major cause of the troubles. The report said that many Catholic people felt a growing sense of injustice because of:

• Not enough houses being provided by some local councils.
• Unfair ways of giving out houses, especially not using a "points system" to decide who got a home first.
• Some councils using their power unfairly to keep their political control.

How the Housing Executive Started

The Housing Executive was officially set up by a law in 1971. The idea for a single housing body for all of Northern Ireland had been suggested earlier. But it became a serious plan after the British Home Secretary, James Callaghan, visited Northern Ireland following the 1969 Northern Ireland Riots. He pushed for one unified housing organisation.

The new Housing Executive gradually took over housing duties from many different groups:

• In 1971, it took over from the Northern Ireland Housing Trust.
• In 1972, it took over housing duties from 61 local councils.
• In 1973, it took over from the groups managing housing in new towns like Derry and Craigavon.

This meant the NIHE became the landlord for over 150,000 homes. To make things fair, it introduced a "points-based system" for giving out homes. This system aimed to ensure everyone was treated equally. However, even with these efforts, many housing areas today are still mainly home to people of one religious identity.

In 1974, a survey found that Northern Ireland had the worst housing conditions in the UK, with almost 20% of houses not fit to live in. The Housing Executive started a big programme to build new homes. Between 1975 and 1996, over 80,000 new houses were built. They focused on building two- and three-storey houses instead of the tall high-rise buildings common in the 1960s.

The NIHE also started a renovation grants scheme in 1976. This helped people who owned their homes to improve them. Thanks to these efforts, the number of unfit houses fell to 14% by 1979, and then to 8.4% by 1984. By 2011, it was only 2.4%.

In 1979, a "right to buy" policy was introduced. This allowed people renting homes from the Housing Executive to buy them at a lower price. The NIHE also sold old, empty houses for very low prices, sometimes as little as £100, and offered loans to help buyers fix them up.

In 1991, the Housing Executive owned 170,000 homes. By 2016, this number had gone down to less than 90,000. The NIHE stopped building new homes in 2002. Now, housing associations usually build new social homes.

Recent Discussions

In 2010, a report from Queens University Belfast suggested that social housing in Northern Ireland did not get enough money. By 2016, it was estimated that the Housing Executive's existing homes needed about £7 billion for repairs and improvements over the next 30 years.

In 2013, Nelson McCausland, who was a government minister at the time, suggested a plan to change the Housing Executive. He wanted to keep its planning role in the public sector but transfer its landlord duties to housing associations. However, these plans were not carried out by later ministers. In 2020, the Communities Minister, Carál Ní Chuilín, announced plans to allow the Housing Executive to borrow money so it could invest more in its homes.

See also

• Red Sky scandal