FAILURE to address the north's crumbling waste infrastructure - and offering the simple ability to flush a toilet - is slamming the brakes on future house-building, a new lobby group claims.
“We're looking at a potential crisis here,” according to Drains for Development, an amalgam of developers comprising Braidwater Homes, Fraser Houses, Lagan Homes and others.
The campaign body is demanding that the Department for Infrastructure addresses the issue urgently, before the housing stock falls any further and impacts first-time buyers and the social sector.
And it emerged that development has already stalled on a number of sites across the north, including a scheme in Newtownards to provide 440 much needed houses.
The chronic underfunding of NI Water has been well documented, with dire warnings that unless additional capital investment is provided, the utility can't connect new homes and businesses into its system, where in simple terms, they won't even be able to flush their toilets.
Drains for Development director Conor Mulligan said: “Demand for houses in Northern Ireland is massively outweighing supply right now. We need to build more homes, but planning permission is complicated and even if approved, there's no possibility we can build due to foul sewer capacity being nearly, if not already, at capacity.
“More than 90 areas currently have a freeze on development, preventing much-needed homes from being built.
“Since its formation in 2007, NI Water has only received the recommended level of funding in a handful of years, which needs to be rectified urgently.”
The group is commissioning a bespoke research project which will investigate the implications of the region's poor wastewater infrastructure on homes and the economy.
He added: “We urgently need a modern, well-maintained and sufficiently-funded sustainable water and wastewater network to allow more homes to be built. The Executive has committed to meet NI Water’s funding requirements for 2021/22 but this doesn’t go far enough.
“Our group will continue to campaign for Stormont to prioritise this issue and ensure NI Water receives the multi-year funding required to address critical gaps in infrastructure.
“Northern Ireland has just recorded the busiest month for the housing market since the 2007 boom, so the demand is there.”
While in its final price control determination in May the Regulator endorsed NI Water’s investment plan, it does not mean that funding will be guaranteed.
