SDLP Opposition Communities Spokesperson Mark H Durkan MLA has warned that a decision by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons to decrease the grant paid to Housing Associations will result in fewer social homes being built across Northern Ireland.

The Minister confirmed that the grant, which covers the total cost of building a new social home, will be reduced from 54% to 46%.

Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan questioned the Minister's decision, stating that the reduction was made "without proper consultation with the sector" and that the Minister "utterly failed to articulate how this will lead to the construction of more social homes."

Impact on Housing Associations Mr Durkan stressed that Housing Associations are currently delivering homes in an "extremely difficult climate," especially in contrast to what he described as an Executive "missing the housing target set out in its own Programme for Government."

The SDLP MLA voiced strong concerns that the decision could lead to projects collapsing altogether and accused the Minister of being "off on a solo run."

Furthermore, Mr Durkan warned that the cut will also negatively impact the ability of Housing Associations to maintain existing properties. He suggested this could lead to a situation where homes become uninhabitable due to a lack of investment, which he called the "last thing we want to see with our social housing stock under such pressure."

"We are in the middle of a housing crisis that is only getting worse and interventions like this aren’t going to fix it," Mr Durkan concluded. He stated that the Executive will be judged on its response to the crisis and that it has "utterly failed so far."