CIH Northern Ireland raises concern over £100m ‘cut’ to budget for new social homes

Stormont’s budget for new social housing appears to be £100m less than was indicated at the start of the year, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Northern Ireland.

In January 2025, finance minister Caoimhe Archibald wrote that £100m would be allocated to the Department for Communities (DfC) in 2025/26 as an exclusive fund for social housing construction. She stated that this would be “in addition” to the department’s general capital allocation of £270m.

However, the DfC’s equality impact assessment of April’s budget published earlier this month states that the £100m pot falls “within” the department’s total budget.

The promise of an exclusive £100m for social homebuilding coupled with the expectation that the DfC’s capital budget would also provide significant funding for this means that the total figure for new social homes was projected to be much higher.

Justin Cartwright, national director, at CIH Northern Ireland, said: “The recently published Department for Communities budget shows that the amount available for allocation to new social homes is £100 million less than was indicated in January.

“This deeply concerning reduction means that instead of starting around 1,600 new social homes this financial year, we are now likely to start around 1,000, against an identified need of more than 2,000. Such cuts will severely impact the most vulnerable in our society and exacerbate the housing crisis.”

The revelation comes as recent statistics from the department of finance show that new home starts were up 9.4% in January – March 2025 compared to the same quarter last year.

The number of homes completed in the first quarter of 2025 was 1,359, which represents a 7.9% increase on the previous year’s completions.

The finance minister is due to make a statement about the national budget to the assembly in the coming days. The Department for Communities has been approached for comment.