Responding to reports that the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman has launched an investigation into the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Nicola Grant said that the housing executive had a legal and moral obligation to ensure that all their properties are maintained to the highest standards. Ms. Grant went on to say that repairs must be dealt with quickly and efficiently so that tenants do not have to make continuous requests for the same repairs to be dealt with. Leaving repairs for extended periods of time is not only an inconvenience for the tenants but can lead to added expense to the public purse.
The Workers Party is disappointed that the ombudsman has had to take this action on behalf of those who need and live public houses. But also, because the Northern Ireland Housing Executive was set because of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Campaign to guarantee housing was built and allocated based on objective need and was a major achievement.
Over the past decades those who were always opposed to the concept of a Northern Ireland wide public sector housing body, have chipped away the powers to build homes on a larger scale, to deal with the unmet need as the demand for housing is growing steadily. The right to buy has also had a negative impact on our public housing stock. The workers party is on record calling for a State Construction Company to be set up, and an immediate programme of house building is planned and completed to deal with the housing crisis that has been ongoing for decades.
Ms. Grant added that we agree with the ombudsman on the importance of decent quality homes and how they effect and impact on our life chances, to employment opportunities, to educational achievements, and to deal with deprivation, and health inequalities. She finished by saying the numbers of families in temporary accommodation is scandalous but cannot be laid solely at the door of the housing executive. The Northern Ireland Assembly have a key role to play in delivering the funding for the building of more public housing that has been promised as part of the so-called peace dividend. Yet another broken promise.
The workers party is calling on the housing executive to take immediate action to deal with all the problems detailed by the ombudsman and to draw up a comprehensive and credible strategy to deal with homelessness. Tenants deserve better that this from a publicly funded housing body. No one can blame those who feel they are being let down and ignored when calls are going on unanswered or repairs are not carried out. It is their right to seek redress elsewhere, MS Grant said it is such a pity that the situation has reached this stage.
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