30 September 2025
SDLP Opposition Communities Spokesperson Mark H Durkan MLA has questioned remarks by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons MLA blaming housing pressures for increasing racial tensions.
He said the Minister was more interested in excuses than solutions, despite a deepening housing crisis in which demand continues to soar while delivery falls far short of targets.
Last year just 1,504 new social homes were started. The total this year is expected to be even lower. Mr Durkan said families cannot afford more years of drift.
Mark H Durkan MLA said:
"The Minister's remarks are a transparent attempt to deflect attention from his own failure to deliver the homes people need. The housing crisis in the North is the direct result of years of Executive failure.
"Almost 50,000 households are on social housing waiting lists. Families are stuck in overcrowded conditions. Homelessness is rising, and this Executive is delivering barely half the number of new houses needed to meet its own targets.
"Instead of gaslighting the public, the Minister should be doing his job. That means getting on with building social homes at scale, securing investment, and using every lever available - not making excuses.
"The figures speak for themselves. The Executive promised nearly 6,000 social homes by 2027. At this rate, they won't even come close to meeting that figure. People don't want rhetoric, they want roofs over their heads. The Minister needs to stop deflecting blame and start delivering."