NIHE to triple investment in Ards and North Down Homes

Last year, it invested £21.7m specifically on energy efficiency improvement measures in homes and plans to sustain this investment in 2024-25. 

According to the HIP, 174 housing association units were on site at March 2024, and 120 were completed. 

More than £5.9m was invested in Supporting People programmes. This is expected to rise to £6m in 2024-25. 

Ms Long said: “Whilst we are pleased that we have been increasing investment in improving our own homes over the last year and will continue to do so in 2024-25, the current budgetary environment is presenting challenges for other housing provision and services.”

She warned that there will be a reduction in the number of new build social homes it can commission across all council areas, and said it is “especially concerning that we may not be able to fully fund many of the programmes needed by so many households, such as homelessness prevention and affordable warmth”.

It emerged in May that the initial Budget announced would only fund around 600 social homes.

While extra funding was recently announced for the Social Housing Development Programme, sector bodies warned that a significant gap remained to meet need.

Ms Long said: “Budget constraints mean that the new build home programme for the coming year will fall considerably short of our targets, once more widening the gap between housing demand and supply. 

“It is vital that we continue to work in partnership with councils and the housing sector to find solutions.”

However, she said that despite the challenges, “delivery of our housing objectives is key to the social, economic and environmental benefits of Ards and North Down”.          

“Partnerships established with local councils remain crucial and I am looking forward to further close working as we strive to deliver against our shared goal of providing better places to live for the people and communities we serve,” Ms Long said.