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NORTHERN IRELAND HOUSING EXECUTIVE BUILDS FIRST NEW HOUSES FOR 25 YEARS
The Housing Executive , Northern Ireland ’ s public housing authority , has started building its first new houses in 25 years .
Since the mid-1990s , social housing in Northern Ireland has been built by housing associations .
Three years ago Stormont ’ s then housing minister announced a change to the Housing Executive ’ s remit so it could start building again .
It has now broken ground on a small project in north Belfast . Housing Executive chief executive Grainia Long said she hoped the project would “ offer a blueprint for the future of social housing ”.
She added : “ We are not just building new homes for our tenants for the first time in a generation .
“ We are building future-proofed homes that will be constructed to a standard beyond that of current building regulations in Northern Ireland .”
The move to get the Housing Executive building again was part of a wider package of measures announced by Carál Ní Chuilín , then communities minister , who said change was needed to increase the supply of social homes .
“ We need housing sectors beyond social housing to provide affordable and suitable homes ,” she told the assembly .
The new Housing Executive project , which is being delivered by construction company GEDA , is a pilot scheme of six houses being built to very high energy efficiency standards .
The project is being built to “ passive house standards ” meaning they are airtight and highly insulated so the heating needs to be used rarely compared to conventional houses .
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