Irish housing company ditches hibernation to deliver new homes
For the first time in 25 years The Housing Executive has completed a new social housing development.
Tenants are set to move into six new semi-detached houses in Sunningdale Gardens, Belfast, which were built by the construction company GEDA.
Damian Murray, construction director at GEDA; Nicole Lappin, chair of the NIHE; Grainia Long, chief executive of NIHE; communities minister Gordon Lyons
The project, which includes ultra-low energy building techniques to the Passivhaus standard, is the first time The Housing Executive has delivered properties in a quarter of a century.
Between 1975 and 1996 housing organisation built more than 80,000 homes, but has not developed at any scale since 2001-02, when housing associations became the main providers of new social housing in the region.
However, The Housing Executive has set its sights on undergoing a new restructure in the next few years. Plans were announced by ministers in 2020 but are yet to commence.
Nicole Lappin, chair of The Housing Executive, said: ‘As the strategic housing authority for Northern Ireland, it is our role to influence the future of social housing, and with Sunningdale we are demonstrating what estates and housing developments can look like in the years to come.
‘At the outset of this pilot project our aim was not just to build new homes for our tenants for the first time in a generation but to build future-proofed homes with energy-efficient measures that will stand the test of time.
‘The ultra-low energy building methods used to construct these houses means that our tenants will now benefit from improved energy efficiency and a reduction in carbon emissions, lower heating bills, savings from reduced fuel costs and more comfortable homes.’
Communities minister Gordon Lyons added: ‘This is not just the Housing Executive delivering new homes, it is the Housing Executive leading and innovating for Northern Ireland.
‘The modern methods of construction approach and the Passivhaus standard that NIHE has achieved will together bring learning for the whole social housing sector here.
‘I commend all those involved in this development and wish the residents every happiness in their new homes.’
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