Landlords pocket £85 million of public money

It has been revealed that between 2001 and 2007 nearly £85 million of public money has been paid out to private landlords via the housing benefit scheme.

However, what is most shocking about this figure is that it only covers money paid to landlords in North Belfast alone, and as such only represents a tiny percentage of the total paid throughout Northern Ireland. Instead of handing millions to private landlords, the Assembly Executive should be investing this money into providing social and affordable housing and employing building workers to provide much needed homes.

... but no money for social housing

Despite huge sums of money being given to landlords, last month the Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association announced that it could no longer accept new applications due to a lack of funding.

For most workers in desperate need of housing, the option of co-ownership has been the only serious choice. But the closure of this service due to the Assembly’s cuts, coupled with the announcement that 450 jobs in the Housing Executive will be axed over the next three years, will further exacerbate the housing crisis.

Conor Murphy unveils plan to privatise Northern Ireland’s ports

The Assembly Executive has endorsed Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy’s decision to privatise all public ports this year. In February, Murphy announced that Northern Ireland’s Trust Ports would “cease to be public corporations”.

The ports in Belfast, Derry, Coleraine and Warrenpoint will now compete against each other as private entities, opening the way for private companies to take over. Between 2003 and 2005, Belfast Harbour alone made over £44m in profits. To add insult to injury, £14m of public money will be invested in Belfast Harbour between 2006 and 2010 for the new private owners.