NI Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has said she wants to see more of the Province's vacant properties occupied.

Minister Ritchie has said 10% of the current 40,000 vacant homes in Northern Ireland could be let overnight, meaning at least 4,000 homes could be filled immediately.

The Minister plans to take action, and has said her department will be contacting owners of property, in need of refurbishment, to outline the available improvement grants.

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Ms Ritchie has invested £40m into grants aimed at improving potential homes.

"We will be writing out to all those people who own those empty homes affording them the opportunity to apply for an improvement grant, thereby adding to the number of houses that will be available for allocation that will deal with the record levels of homelessness," said the Minister.

In April last year the Assembly discussed penalising speculators, who are leaving houses vacant, with a rate rise.

A report suggested imposing 100% rates on houses left vacant for six months, or more, rising to 200% for houses left vacant for more than a year.

The target was to bring 9,500 empty houses back into the stock within five years.

Plans in the report also involved allowing the NI Housing Executive to fill houses, left vacant for more than six months, immediately, with those on the waiting list.

(PR)