Housing legislation & residential building safety

The law relating to Housing in Northern Ireland

The main piece of housing law in Northern Ireland is the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. This order sets out the constitution, financing and general functions of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) and relates to the formation, administration and registration of Housing Associations.

• The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

The Housing (NI) Order 1983

This provides security of tenure and other rights for certain tenants of NIHE and Housing Associations and gives certain secure tenants of NIHE the right to buy their homes.

• The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1983

The Housing (NI) Order 1986

This facilitates the provision of financial assistance to certain private owners of dwellings which have been sold by NIHE or other certain public bodies which are defective by reason of their design or construction.

• The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1986

The Housing (NI) Order 1988

This imposes a duty on NIHE in relation to persons who are found to be homeless or threatened with homelessness and empowers NIHE to make schemes for the purchase of houses evacuated in consequence of acts or threats of violence and for the carrying out of emergency repairs to houses. (SPED Scheme).

The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1988

The Housing (NI) Order 1992

This provides for the payment of grants towards the cost of improvement and repair of housing accommodation, carrying out of works of maintenance, repair and improvement and the replacement of dwellings.

• The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992
• Article 30 of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 Specification 1995
• Article 31(6) of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 Determination 1994
• Article 31(6) of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 Determination 1995
• Article 31(6) of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 Determination 2015

The Housing (NI) Order 2003

This is concerned with the conduct of tenants and empowers NIHE and registered Housing Associations to operate an introductory tenancy regime.

• The Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003

The Housing (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

This transfers from DSD to NIHE certain functions in relation to the payment of grants to registered Housing Associations.

• The Housing (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

The Housing (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2010

This places a duty on NIHE to formulate a Homelessness Strategy
and places an onus on NIHE to publish a statement of its policy with regards to anti-social behaviour and its procedures for dealing with it.

• The Housing (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2010

The Housing (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011

This introduces the tenant deposit scheme to secure tenants' deposits and outlines penalties for non-compliance by landlords.

It clarifies evidence of family relationships in houses in multiple occupation and increases fines for failure to register a house in multiple occupation.

• The Housing (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2011

More useful links

All legislation (including revoked, amended and archived legislation) can be found on the legislation.gov.uk website.