Housing Executive chief executive, Grainia Long
Mid and East Antrim had 2,340 residents in housing stress at the end of March, the Housing Executive has said.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s Neighbourhoods and Communities Committee was told during a presentation at The Braid, in Ballymena, recently, that single, older persons and small family households comprise 86% of the housing stress waiting list in the council area.
The committee also heard that during 2023/24, 1,288 people presented as homeless. A total of 418 homes were allocated to waiting list applicants.
Grainia Long, the Housing Executive’s chief executive, warned:
“Budget constraints means that the new-build home programme for the coming year will fall considerably short of our targets, once more widening the gapbetween housing demand and supply.”
She reported that 356 new-build units are on-site, with 164 planned to start in the next three years in Mid and East Antrim.
The chief executive commented there would be other councils which would be “glad to have that level of activity”. She stressed the Housing Executive is “acutely aware” of need in the area.
She indicated that 863 new social housing units will be needed in Mid and East Antrim over the next five years but due to a “significantly reduced budget, 600 new social housing homes will be commissioned in Northern Ireland during 2024/25 instead of the proposed 2,000.”
She continued: “Clearly we have more work to do on rural housing. That very much remains our focus.”
Another priority in the area, she said, is increasing planned maintenance and to ensure that homes are “as energy efficient as possible”. She added the Housing Executive has spent more than £50m across all council areas on energy efficiency measures with a “strong focus on damp and mould”.
She also noted the Housing Executive has decreased temporary accommodation placements in the area with “reduced reliance” on bed and breakfast establishments and hotels and children will not be placed in this accommodation unless there is “absolutely no alternative”.
Carrick Castle DUP Alderman Billy Ashe MBE said:
“I welcome 356 new social homes coming into play recently. In Carrick, we have been lucky enough to have a number of constituents who have been on the list for many years being allocated some of these houses but it is only the tip of the iceberg. It is an ongoing situation.”
Commenting on a 151 per cent increase in temporary accommodation demand, Ald Ashe added:
“This is particularly relevant in Carrick. Time and time again, I am seeing people in housing stress being allocated temporary accommodation in Ballymena, for example.”
The chief executive replied:
“It is a significant challenge. The pandemic led to informal sharing arrangements breaking down. There are also issues with landlords leaving the private sector. Demand has increased from 3,000 placements annually pre-pandemic to more than 11,000, at present.
“We want to place people in secure social housing not in temporary accommodation for long periods.”
Frank O’Connor, north regional manager, said: “We would be keen to get more accommodation in Carrick.”
He went on say, on occasions, some people who leave Belfast “for danger reasons” want to move to Carrick, adding that the Housing Executive would be keen to secure property in the town to provide secure tenancy.
Knockagh DUP Councillor Marc Collins asked about the Housing Executive’s maintenance contracts.
The chief executive acknowledged there have been “challenges” over procurement but some have been approved and are on site to “work through the backlog”.
“There are some very vocal residents’ groups who want to see that backlog eaten into. It will take two to three years to do that.”
Mr O’Connor said last summer, there was a five-month period when no repairs were carried out in Mid and East Antrim. He went on to say work being carried at present is of a “very high standard” with expenditure amounting to £800k monthly.
He indicated the contractor has been reporting labour and material shortages and currently there is a problem with the installation of non-slip floors for wet rooms but it is “being worked on”.
Last year, the Housing Executive carried out the installation of new heating in 738 homes, loft insulations in 96 homes, 112 special schemes (which included external maintenance works) were carried out, and 968 properties received external maintenance across the borough. Boilers were replaced in 37 properties.
The chief executive noted:
“Over the last year in Mid and East Antrim, we invested £6.78m on planned maintenance, with a further £6.37m spent on response maintenance.
“We hope to see this increase in 2024/25 with a proposed spend of £9.31m on planned maintenance and £8.7m on response maintenance.”
Councillors were also told:
“We worked hard to support the most vulnerable in our communities with £4.45m invested through the ‘Supporting People’ programme to fund 67 services provided by partner organisations across the borough. This investment provided housing support to 1,398 people last year.
“Across the borough, 920 people who presented as homeless were accepted for support last year.”