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Northern Ireland to get 26 new desegregated housing schemes
Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities (DfC) has unveiled a programme for 26 new desegregated social housing schemes across the region.
The developments will house people from both Catholic and Protestant backgrounds – which is unusual in Northern Ireland, where 90% of social housing estates are dominated by one group or the other.
They will be delivered through the DfC’s Together: Building a United Community (TBUC) strategy introduced by Northern Ireland’s government in 2013 in a bid to improve cross-community relations.
Ten TBUC schemes have been completed to date, with Clanmil Housing Group opening the most recent in September – a 55-home development in south Belfast.
Some of the schemes – referred to in Northern Ireland as “shared housing” – have faced issues, with four families at Radius Housing’s Cantrell Close forced to flee their homes in September 2017 after receiving sectarian threats.
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Speaking at the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA) annual conference in Derry last week, DfC permanent secretary Tracy Meharg said the handover of the 10th TBUC development marked “a momentous achievement for the sector”.
She added: “I know that many of you have contributed to this and other shared schemes and I want to thank you for that work because I know that it hasn’t been easy.
“We have now programmed a further 26 schemes to mainstream shared housing in the development programme.
“Seventy-eight per cent of people say that they would prefer to live in a shared neighbourhood and I think we need to all of us reflect on how we can ensure that we provide this choice to all of our social tenants who want it.”
The 26 new schemes will be delivered through the DfC’s draft Shared Housing Programme, which forms part of its Programme for Government awaiting ministers’ return to Stormont.
They are expected to bring the total number of TBUC shared housing units in Northern Ireland to 1,298.
As with the previous schemes, residents will be asked to sign up to “good neighbour charters” encouraging their support for good relations in the neighbourhood.
Each scheme will also have a five-year Good Relations Plan which aims to help incoming residents bond and establish ties with surrounding communities, with advisory groups representing politicians, charity workers, councils, the Housing Executive and other public bodies monitoring progress.
Patrick Thompson, deputy chief executive of NIFHA, said: “The housing association sector is committed to shared housing and wants to meet the increasing desire for it.
“Across Northern Ireland, 90% of social housing is still segregated, so these new shared housing schemes are very welcome.
“We believe that, alongside mixed tenure and mixed-use developments, they are an important step in creating more cohesive and integrated communities.”
