26 January 2005
REVIEW OF THE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY HOUSING NEED FIGURES
A report on the review of regional housing need figures and the methodology used in their preparation, was launched today, by Minister of State, John Spellar, MP. The Minister welcomed the launch of this important report and the conclusion that there should be a new forecast regional housing need figure of 200,000 additional dwellings by 2015. The existing regional figure is 160,000 dwellings.
Publication of the draft report, "The Review of the Regional Housing Growth Indicators of the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland 2025," follows six months of information gathering and consultation with a wide range of people in the public and private sectors.
Commenting on the report, the Minister said: "Forecasting the level of housing need is essential for residential developers, for those planning infrastructure investments and future service delivery plans, and for land use planners preparing development plans. A realistic assessment of where those dwellings should be located, is vital information for all of those interests. The underlying objective, of course, is to provide for the housing needs of the citizens of Northern Ireland.
"Government is committed to continue the review of regional housing need by biennial reports on monitoring and by five yearly reviews of the overall progress."
The revised forecast of housing need has been informed by the 2001 Census and other more recent surveys, carried out by government departments or agencies. The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency has reviewed the methodology employed in assessing demographic change and the significance of such change for forecasting future housing need.
The need for 40,000 additional dwellings reflects a number of factors, such as the declining size of households and changing societal and economic conditions. A separate report by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, sets out the full range of factors considered and how these contributed to the reassessment.
The report also sets out proposed revised Housing Growth Indicators, for local government districts, of the additional dwellings required for sustainable regional growth.
The Minister added: "The new housing figures and the proposed distribution across district council areas, have been prepared after much thought and consultation. The uplifted figures are considered to be of the right magnitude and can immediately act as the new baseline. I will be interested to hear views on whether there should be any marginal uplift in some areas. The long-term objectives for sustainable housing development, set out in the RDS, remain crucial to our policy.
"There has been some concern that the figures contained in the original Regional Development Strategy, would not have enabled sufficient housing growth in some areas, where Catholics and Nationalist are in a majority. This report takes this point into account."
An Equality Impact Assessment on the proposed Housing Growth Indicators is attached as an annex to the report.
There is a final eight week consultation period, closing on 25 March 2005.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. Copies of the consultation document may be obtained by contacting:-
Mark Barr
Regional Planning & Transportation Division
Department for Regional Development
Room 3.01, Clarence Court
10-18 Adelaide Street
BELFAST
BT2 8GB
Telephone 028 9054 0616
FAX 028 9054 06042. The consultation document can be read online at www.drdni.gov.uk/shapingourfuture and www.consultationni.gov.uk. NISRA Occasional Paper No. 21 "Household Projections for Northern Ireland: 2002-2025" can be read online at www.nisra.gov.uk
3. It is intended to publish the outcome of the present consultation prior to the commencement of the first five-year review of the RDS, which will commence in April/May 2005. The outcome of this consultation exercise will be an important starting point for the RDS review because it will allow the Department to outline a preferred position on a settled and sustainable pattern of housing throughout Northern Ireland, against which other RDS objectives can be compared and assessed.
4. The preparation of the consultation document, entitled "The Review of the Regional Housing Growth Indicators of the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland 2025," is a response to a commitment contained in the Regional Development Strategy (RDS), when it was first published in September 2001.
5. For more information on the consultation document, contact Pauline McParland at 028 90 540587 or email Pauline.mcparland@drdni.gov.uk
6. Media Enquires, contact DRD Press Office Tel: 028 9054 0007
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