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References

Healthy housing, together with clean water, sanitation, food and clothing is a basic human requirement. The relationship between housing and health has long been recognised. Victorian solutions to improving ill health including slum clearing and sanitation did much to improve health. Improvements in death rates from infectious diseases such as cholera and typhoid, and to some extent tuberculosis, owed as much to improved standards of living as to microbiology and antibiotics. As our knowledge of communicable diseases and illness have grown, so has our awareness of the importance of housing to physical and mental wellbeing.

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The Northern Ireland Housing Executive 1974 House Condition Survey painted a harsh picture of the condition of Northern Ireland’s housing. It stated that 20% were legally unfit for human habitation, with more than one third of the housing stock in need of significant repair. Around 26% of dwellings lacked at least one of the five basic amenities and 22% lacked four or more such amenities. In total, some 600,000 people or 40% of the population lived in dwellings that were unfit, in disrepair or lacking certain basic amenities.

The 2004 Interim House Condition Survey estimated that there were some 25,600 unfit dwellings in Northern Ireland.  This represents a headline rate of 3.8%. In 1974 almost one in five (19.6%) dwellings were statutorily unfit, a total of nearly 90,000 dwellings. By 1991, under the provisions of a much higher standard, the rate of unfitness had reduced to 8.8% (some 50,000 dwellings), and by 1996 unfitness had declined by a further 6,000 properties to 44,000 (7.3%). In 2001 this had declined again to 31,600 dwellings (4.9%).

In 2004 the Belfast Metropolitan Area had a rate of unfitness of 2.3% (7,600 dwellings).  Most of these (4,440) were in Belfast, which had an unfitness rate of 3.6%, while South Belfast had an unfitness rate of 5%.  As in 2001, Northern Ireland's district towns have a very low rate of unfitness.  Only 2.2% (4,800 dwellings) fail to meet the Fitness Standard.  Rural areas continue to have higher rates of unfitness.  In 2004 a total of 13,500 (6.8%) rural dwellings were unfit compared with 12,100 (2.5%) in urban areas.  This compares with 2001 figures of 18,000 (8.5%) for rural areas and 13,600 (3.1%) for urban areas.  The condition of dwellings in isolated rural areas remains relatively poor.  A total of 11,200 (10%) isolated rural dwellings failed to meet the FItness Standard and although this has reduced a little since 2001 (14,000; 11%) it continues to be the primary location for unfit dwellings.  As in 2001, two-fifths (44%) of all unfit dwellings in Northern Ireland were in isolated rural locations.

In 2001 there were approximately 16,300 dwellings that were unfit on the grounds of dampness. Central heating is traditionally seen as a key indicator of the standard of housing. For the purposes of the 2001 House Condition Survey “central heating” was defined as a heating system with a distribution system sufficient to provide heat in at least two rooms. In 1996 a total of 523,800 (87%) dwellings were recorded as having central heating. By 2001 this figure had risen to 615,400 (95%) indicating a major improvement in the heating standard of dwellings in Northern Ireland. However, in 2004 the most common causes of unfitness were serious disrepair and unsatisfactory facilities for the preparation and cooking of food.  In the case of each criterion approximately 20,000 dwellings (78% and 69% of all unfits) failed the Fitness Standard.  Dampness was recorded as the third most common reason for unfitness (15,200 dwellings; 59%).

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At first sight the reduction between the unfitness of dwellings in the House Condition Survey between 1996 and 2004 appears remarkable, but there are a number of important factors which account for this. The political progress towards peace which has been made in Northern Ireland since the House Condition Survey which was carried out in 1996 has promoted a higher level of economic prosperity and confidence in the housing market. This has in turn underpinned an accelerated rate of market renewal. Difficulties of obtaining appropriate sites for new dwellings in parts of Northern Ireland have encouraged home owners and developers to purchase older more dilapidated properties and either renovate them or demolish and replace them. The relatively high level of resources committed to the maintenance and improvement of social housing in Northern Ireland continues to bring benefits in terms of the low levels of unfitness in both the Housing Executive and housing association sectors. Replacement grants in particular targeted at unfit dwellings have undoubtedly accelerated the process of improving housing conditions. In addition, the ongoing regeneration activities particularly in Belfast, but also in other towns and rural areas, where demolitions and, where appropriate, redevelopment have both had a significant impact on reducing unfitness.

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