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Northern Ireland’s housing authority invests in 630 new social homes
Northern Ireland’s public housing authority has invested £37.6m to build hundreds of new social homes in the south east of the country.
Last year, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) completed 51 homes in the Newry, Mourne and Down district and as of March 2023, it had 631 housing association units on site.
The largest schemes currently on site include 255 homes in Newry by Apex Housing Association, a 70-home scheme by Choice also in Newry, and 66 homes in the town of Downpatrick by Clanmil. A further 237 new homes are planned to start over the next three years.
Also last year, the NIHE spent £218m on improving and maintaining homes in the district, according to the new Newry, Mourne and Down housing investment plan (HIP).
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Grainia Long, chief executive of NIHE, said: “We have invested more in our tenants’ homes across Northern Ireland over the past 12 months than in any of the previous 15 years.
“This investment has been delivered in a challenging external environment, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to improving the health and well-being of our tenants.”
In Northern Ireland, most new build social housing is delivered by housing associations through the Social Housing Development Programme, which use private finance to match funding from the Department for Communities (DfC) to deliver projects.
Last financial year, Northern Irish housing associations surpassed government targets for social housing starts and completions finishing 1,449 homes and starting on 1,956 new homes.
Ms Long said that despite investment in new homes, the gap between housing demand and supply “continues to widen” and that the NIHE recognises the importance of continued partnership with councils and the housing sector to find solutions.
The number of new homes completed in Northern Ireland last year was just over 6,400, according to NIHE’s HIP for 2023 to 2026. This was down from 7,300 the year prior and some way off the 2018-19 high of 8,400.
The NIHE has prepared an action plan on the expansion of the Social Housing Development Programme, which has been agreed with the DfC.
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