Housing shortage warning

There is a shortage of land for building in Belfast

By Mike McKimm BBC Northern Ireland environment correspondent

A severe shortage of housing is predicted if the planners do not release more land, a leading Northern Ireland builder has warned.

Fred Frazer - who has build thousands of the homes in large estates around Belfast - says the target of an extra 51,000 houses by 2015 could be thousands of houses short.

He blames a slow planning process and the lack of any major area plans being agreed for Belfast.

The plans should have been ready by 1997 to allow the proper allocation of land, but they still are not complete.

Price of land and houses creeping up

Land that developers would like to get their hand on still hasn't been agreed for release and may not be allocated for another four to five years.

By then, says Fred Frazer, there just won't be enough time to meet the targets.

Released

Mr Frazer also blames the pressure on developers to use more brown field sites for new housing. He says this isn't working.

"Over-dependence on brown field sites is graphically illustrated by the government's own housing starts figures, just released, which show more than a 50% drop in the private sector figures for Belfast, comparing third quarter 2001 with third quarter 2002," he says.

He also claims land is being developed in some places where people don't really want to live. He wants to see land being released to the east and south edge of Belfast.

Fred Frazer: Blames a slow planning process

"People want to live in areas that suit them best. There's nothing wrong with places like Lisburn or Carrickfergus, but many people don't want to live there just because land is available for housing in those areas."

But the planners disagree. They say that every developer has their own view on where people want to live.

They also challenge the demand to release new land quickly and to allow locations not currently available for development.

Popular areas

They say that there is a clear plan and statutory rules they must follow. If developers find fault with these, they can take planning decisions to an inquiry.

An inquiry is often the route developers choose when blocked by the planners.

Recently two developers have had planning decisions overturned in their favour after they appealed.

Plans should have been ready by 1997

But all of this does hide a real problem in Northern Ireland. There is a shortage of land for building, especially in the more popular areas of south Belfast.

There is also a problem of too many new apartments in Belfast. The 1990s were marked by an explosion in apartment blocks around the city, taking advantage of the cheaper brown field sites.

Many were bought by speculators or those wanting to let the property but the market has now slumped and many of the apartments lie empty.

Apart from Fred Frazer's criticisms, the planners will be watching the price of land and houses creeping up in south and east Belfast.

Developers are having to pay one million pounds for an acre of land in south Belfast while small terrace houses are being snapped up at prices far in excess of those paid just a year ago. That could be enough on its own to force the planners to rethink their strategy.