Supporting Communities conducted the first in an ongoing series of surveys known as ‘The Amp’ last week, which polls residents of Northern Ireland on issues of community and housing.

The debut survey asked registered Amp members, “What do you think the most important issue for the new Minister for Dept. of Communities should be?”

Respondents were asked to rank priorities from issues mentioned in the New Decade, New Approach deal that restored the Assembly at Stormont earlier this year. They also had the option to expand on their reasoning for their choices and to mention other issues in open ended responses.

Overwhelmingly, the top two priorities (which were neck and neck) for the Amp respondents were:

Protect people from the harshest aspects of the changes to the benefits system by extending Welfare Reform Mitigations, and;
Ensure there’s enough affordable housing in NI/ build more affordable houses

Tackling the maintenance backlog for NIHE properties was also high on the list of priorities followed closely by implementing anti-poverty strategies.

Supporting Communities will be sharing the results of the survey with the new Minister for the Department of Communities, Deirdre Hargey, as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone who took time to register for the Amp and to respond to this first survey.