The Housing Executive has exceeded its objectives in providing social housing within the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area.

Over the last five years, the Housing Executive has completed the construction of 649 homes, exceeding its initial target of 531.

At a meeting with councillors from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Housing Executive Chief Executive, Grainia Long presented the annual Housing Investment Plan (HIP).

The Housing Executive Performance Report (HIP) details the Housing Executive's achievements in the past year while also laying out its programmes and strategies for the upcoming year.

Last year, £18.24 million was invested in new-build homes in the district, with 371 housing association units on-site at March 2023 and 155 housing completions for the year.

Housing Executive Chief Executive, Grainia Long, said: "We have invested more in our tenants’ homes across Northern Ireland over the past 12 months (2022/23) 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 Antrim and Newtownabbey, we invested £3.81m on planned maintenance including stock improvements last year, with a further £9.59m spent on response maintenance.

"We worked hard to support the most vulnerable in our communities with £3.47m invested through the Supporting People programme to fund 54 services provided by partner organisations across the district. This investment provided housing support to 1,330 people last year. Across the borough, 1,341 people who presented as homeless were accepted for support last year. Our focus on prevention and early intervention will continue with the aim of providing a sustainable model of provision to prevent homelessness."

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Fostering cohesive, thriving and supportive communities across the borough remained a key area of focus in the investment plan for 2022/23.

Ms Long added: "We were able to support local communities with more than £148k funding through our community grants, community safety and community cohesion programmes. We recognise the importance of inclusion and good relations in helping people sustain their tenancies and build strong communities. We know this is more important than ever when we continue to face challenges in the housing sector with ongoing demand for social housing and homelessness services.

"Despite this investment, the gap between housing demand and supply continues to widen and we recognise the importance of continued partnership with councils and the housing sector to find solutions."

In the previous year, £1.1 million was allocated specifically for improving energy efficiency measures in the Housing Executive's own homes, with intentions to maintain this investment throughout 2023/24.

This investment includes the delivery of one of the largest retrofit programmes across the UK, which will see vast improvements in the energy performance of over 1,000 of the Housing Executive's homes across Northern Ireland, Antrim and Newtownabbey.

Ms Long commented:

"In addition to investing in homes and communities in 2022/23, we are also pleased to have been able to support the economic future of Antrim and Newtownabbey with a steady, positive impact on employment and local supply chains.

"Looking ahead to next year there is no doubt that we will continue to face challenges however we remain fully committed to the objectives set out in our Housing Investment Plan 2023 -26. We will continue to work with our partners to increase social housing supply, help to address the impact of climate change, invest in our local economy, deliver innovative housing solutions and involve our customers to ensure they are at the heart of service improvements in our business delivery model.

"Delivery of our housing objectives is key to the social, economic and environmental benefits of Antrim and Newtownabbey. I am grateful for the partnerships we have built with the local council and look forward to working together further as we deliver against our shared goal of providing better places to live for the people and communities we serve."