A new housing development - regenerating former Ministry of Defence homes - has been opened in Lisburn.

The Pond Park scheme was unveiled by NI Housing Minister Margaret Ritchie who said the site had been acquired to provide social and affordable housing in an area of high housing need.

The Pond Park units were refurbished by Oaklee Housing Association. The development comprises 112, three-bedroom houses situated in a popular residential area in the north of Lisburn. The houses were formerly occupied by Army personnel.

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Minister Ritchie said: "When I launched the New Housing Agenda, I said that we would be innovative, creative and leave no stone unturned in our desire to deliver housing for those in greatest need.

"The fact that we are here today on the site of a former Ministry of Defence facility, is proof that we are doing just that.

"This housing, a legacy of our troubled past, has been fantastically refurbished and now converted to support the progress we have made in moving forward into a new shared future."

Sixty eight of the homes have now been allocated to those in greatest need and the remaining 44 homes will be allocated in the near future when final refurbishment works are completed.

(PR/BMcC)