The Finance and Social Development Ministers have highlighted the importance of the Co-Ownership housing scheme in helping people get onto the property ladder.

Finance Minister Sammy Wilson and Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland visited successful Co-Ownership applicant Sian Blair in her new home to see how the additional funding the Executive has allocated for affordable housing is delivering more homes for first-time buyers.

In October, the Finance Minister announced an additional £10 million of funding towards affordable homes in 2011/12 year and a further £10 million per year up to 2014-15. This funding helped more families in Northern Ireland purchase their first home through Co-Ownership.

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Welcoming Sian to her new home in Ballyclare Finance Minister Sammy Wilson said: "I am pleased to see at first hand the real benefits that funding from the Executive can bring. Through the Co-Ownership scheme, government and the private sector are successfully providing affordable housing to many more people who want a base from which to build their future.

"The additional funding announced in October, along with the conversations Housing Minister Nelson McCausland and I continue to have with local lenders, is helping more people take their first steps on the property ladder; as well as assisting those seeking to re-enter the housing market. It is evidence of the Executive’s commitment to increasing sustainable homeownership and stimulating some much needed activity in the local property market."

The Social Development Minister, Nelson McCausland, worked closely with Mr Wilson to secure the additional funding and commented: "I recognise the difficult hurdles first-time home buyers currently face getting onto the housing ladder. There has never been a better time for first-time buyers to take that first step on the housing ladder and I am pleased we can help people make that first step through affordable housing schemes like this."

(CD)