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Northern Ireland Housing Executive launches tower block demolition programme
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) has launched its major tower block demolition programme, which will see 33 towers knocked down.
Monkscoole House in Newtownabbey is the first tower block to be demolished by the NIHE under the Tower Blocks Action Plan.
The plan, developed in 2019, came about after the executive estimated that it would cost more than £308m for the investment needed for all 33 tower blocks.
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According to the plan: “The estimated investment requirement in improvements and planned maintenance over the next 30 years is £138.8m, an average requirement per property in the tower blocks of £84,000, compared with an average of £44,000 across our entire housing stock.
“These investment costs combined with projected cyclical/response maintenance and management costs amount to a total funding requirement of £308.8m over 30 years.
“This funding requirement far exceeds the projected income from the blocks over the same period of £152.4m.”
It was argued that the money would be better spent being invested in new modern homes.
The action plan stretches over more than 10 years and blocks have been listed under three categories: short term (one to five years), medium term (six to 10 years) and long term (10 plus years).
Demolition of Monkscoole House, which was built in the 1960s, began last week and is expected to take up to six weeks to complete.
Its sister building, Abbottscoole House, is also due to be demolished in the initial phases of the plan.
The site is expected to be used for new social housing.
A business case for the future of Abbottscoole House is currently being developed.
Two other adjacent tower blocks, Carncoole House and Glencoole House, will be improved and retained for a longer period.
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