The upcoming Assembly election in Northern Ireland will be key to solving the region’s “housing crisis”, according to Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) deputy leader Dr Alistair McDonnell.

Property values in Northern Ireland have rocketed by 41 per cent in the past year, pricing thousands of households out of the market.

More than 27,000 vulnerable people are now on the waiting list for social housing.

Setting out his party’s policies to remedy the lack of affordable housing in a meeting with house-hunters in his south Belfast constituency, Mr McDonnell lambasted the lackadaisical approach adopted by the government.

“We have a housing crisis in the north of Ireland,” said the SDLP deputy leader. “People should make no mistake about that.

“The head-in-the-sand approach of government isn’t good enough and is letting down the hardest working and most vulnerable people in our society.

“The SDLP has a clear plan to address both affordability and the needs of the most vulnerable,” he continued.

Mr McDonnell claimed that his party was the only one in the Assembly to “take this issue seriously”, with 30 proposals designed to remedy current affordability concerns.

SDLP plans include tighter regulation of estate agents and more efficient use of government land.

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