He was speaking after the Minister confirmed she would progress plans to collect money from housing developers to invest in wastewater systems, despite her Department admitting last year many developers will pass this cost on to families.

“Developer contributions will raise a negligible amount of money while also increasing house prices or even causing developers to scrap some new builds altogether,” said South Down MLA Mr McMurray.

“The consequences will therefore be severe for those trying to get on the property ladder or struggling to find an affordable rent. The Minister’s own Department admitted that last year, when it stated in its own consultation developer contributions would likely increase house prices.

“And yet we see no mention of that in today’s statement from the Minister, despite a majority of respondents to the consultation disagreeing with the principle of developer contributions.

“For all the talk of protecting hard-pressed families, the Minister is pursuing water charging through the back door with a policy that will hit local families in the pocket, create a two-tier housing system and do little to tackle the major challenges facing our wastewater infrastructure.”