A group representing housing, construction and business organisations has come up with a radical and affordable proposal to help solve Northern Ireland’s wastewater crisis. It’s proposing a £1.25 per week levy on household rates (£65 per annum).
The Wastewater Infrastructure Group — representing housing, construction and business organisations including the Construction Employers Federation, the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, Manufacturing NI and NI Chamber — has warned that the Draft Budget 2026–30, recognises but will not resolve Northern Ireland’s growing wastewater infrastructure crisis.
Independent analysis commissioned jointly by NI Chamber, CEF and NIFHA with Grant Thornton and Turley last year, together with the findings of the NI Fiscal Council estimated that a £2.0bn funding gap in capital infrastructure for wastewater was preventing 6,150 homes being built over the next three years, resulting in 2,530 jobs lost from the construction sector, and an estimated potential £271.4m of gross value added to the Northern Ireland economy.
The Draft Budget includes additional funding for water infrastructure through a 5% increase in household regional rates. This is welcome but it still falls far short of the level required to remove development constraints across the region. The coalition estimates that a funding gap [of £1.36bn for the draft budget period (2026-2030), and £1.29 bn1) for the next Price Control period remains]. Without fully addressing that gap, the group say the same bottlenecks will continue to block growth and make families in Northern Ireland worse off.
Against this backdrop, the Group is renewing its call for a low cost, progressive Infrastructure Levy, payable through the rates system. This levy would average out at an £1.25 per household per week or £65 per annum – down from the £100 per average household the group had suggested in June 2025. This would create a long term sustainable, multiyear investment model for NI Water and enable stalled housing, industrial and regeneration projects to proceed.
A WIG spokesperson said:
“The Draft Budget rightly identifies wastewater as a strategic priority, but it does not close the funding gap that is blocking new homes and business development across Northern Ireland. A modest, progressive levy of £1.25 a week per average household remains the most practical, affordable and fair way to unlock essential investment, support economic growth and protect our environment.
“Under the Group’s proposal, households on benefits and housing association tenants would be exempt, while contributions would scale with property value — ensuring the levy is fair, progressive and affordable. For example, a house less affluent parts of Belfast with a market value of £109,000 and a rates bill of £422 would face a levy of £23 a year or approximately 44 pence per week whilst those with larger homes valued above £400,000 in North Down, with a rates bill of £3,815, would pay more – a levy of £204 a year or approximately £3.90 per week.”
The spokesperson continued:
“The Draft Budget makes clear that the Executive cannot meet wastewater needs from existing capital envelopes. Our proposal sets out a solution via a progressive investment model which protects the most vulnerable households. For around a pound a week, Northern Ireland could better protect the environment, unlock housing, support inward investment, protect jobs, and end the development moratoria affecting dozens of towns.”
The Group argues that wastewater capacity has now become one of the most binding constraints on Northern Ireland’s economic potential, hitting homebuilding, manufacturing expansion, and town‑centre regeneration. Without an agreed innovative, long term funding model this year, these constraints will continue into the next decade.