To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to detail the timescales for the introduction of a dilapidation bill.

Over the past few years my Department has engaged with stakeholders through blight summits, a discussion document, bi-lateral meetings and a formal public consultation in March 2016. The overwhelming majority of the respondents to the consultation expressed a preference for the development of a wide-ranging Dilapidation Bill that would consolidate and amend much of the existing Victorian legislation, and supplement it with new provisions in respect of low level dilapidation and dangerous buildings already available to local authorities in the rest of the UK. The other key proposal was to enhance significantly the cost recovery provisions available to councils, making the option of them carrying out the relevant works themselves much more viable.

The intention of the proposed Bill is to provide all district councils with a modern, fit-for-purpose Northern Ireland-wide enforcement regime to deal with the negative impact of dilapidated / dangerous buildings and neglected sites.

It had been my intention to introduce the Bill to the Assembly in 2021 so that it completed its passage before the end of the current Assembly mandate but due to other priority work areas taking precedence, in particular work to develop Northern Ireland’s first Environment Strategy, it has not been possible to finalise the substantial economic appraisal which must be completed before the Bill can be introduced.

It is my hope that the Bill can be introduced early in the next Assembly mandate.