Changing the Minimum Standard for Housing
Ms Lindsay Shaw (Ulster) There are social inequality issues relating to low/limited income households being less able to afford a better standard of housing. While there is a ‘Fitness Standard’ (the minimum standard for housing in Northern Ireland), this is recognised as outdated and offers inadequate protection. In England, the fitness standard’ was replaced by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) in 2006. This HHSRS considers hazards in and around the home, including excess cold and inherent safety hazards which are no considered by the ‘fitness standard’. Currently in Northern Ireland, excess cold would relate to Fuel Poverty
Budget analysis and Housing in Northern Ireland
Prof Rory O’Connell (Ulster), Mr Eoin Rooney, Prof Colin Harvey (QUB) and Prof Aoife Nolan (Nottingham, ex QUB) This presentation discusses the findings of multidisciplinary research, to develop an approach to budget analysis, as applied to housing in Northern Ireland. The research is based upon a robust methodology incorporating economic analysis and legal principles, following an examination of efforts at budget analysis in case studies across the globe. The framework is then applied to a concrete case study on housing in Northern Ireland, which considers the practical implications of the system for funding for social housing, with its reliance on