East Belfast Sectoral Study - Northern Ireland Housing Executive

More documents

Recommendations

Info

area, 1653 in the Belfast City portion and 597 in Castlereagh, representing 5.5% and 2.2% of the respective areas’ housing stock. 4.2 Housing Conditions The Housing Executive’s Urban Renewal Programme has transformed housing conditions in many parts of East Belfast, particularly inner East since its adoption in 1982. This strategy introduced a two pronged approach to improving housing conditions, redevelopment and rehabilitation. This produced a swathe of new social housing in the Woodstock, Newtownards, Albertbridge and Beersbridge Roads. Some of the early rehabilitation schemes were less successful and have latterly been subject to Urban Renewal. Private sector housing has been introduced into some of these areas, reflecting its popularity and the confidence and willingness of households to invest in East Belfast. Outside the inner city, housing renewal was primarily driven by private sector grants availability and small new build infill schemes. In the last 5 years over £10 million of grant expenditure has been directed at the study area. The level of unfitness in the Belfast Metropolitan Area, as measured in the 2004 Interim House Condition Survey, was 2.8%. The level of unfitness has continued to fall as the Housing Executive targets its resources on dwellings and individuals in greatest need. The Housing Executive has continued to invest in its own stock with rolling programmes of improvement and maintenance, which included the installation of central heating to almost every Housing Executive home. The Housing Executive has also led the way in converting its stock to natural gas, which is the main heat source of 60% of its dwellings in Belfast. The Housing (NI) Order 2003 changed the Housing Executive’s Grant Scheme from an essentially mandatory one to one that is mainly discretionary. The key features of the main types of grant applicable in East Belfast are: • Renovation Grant which is aimed at reducing unfitness but is now discretionary. Landlord contributions are now based on a percentage of eligible costs rather than on the level of rental income. • Disabled Facilities Grant which is available on the recommendation of an Occupational Therapist, reflecting the Housing Executive’s continuing emphasis on providing support to people with disabilities. • Repair Grants are available to landlords following the service of a Certificate of Disrepair or Public Health Notices. • Housing in Multiple Occupation Grant which is available for properties capable of housing ten or more people. It should be noted that under the Review of Public Administration (RPA) the Housing Executive’s Grants function will be transferred to the new Councils. 18
4.3 Housing Tenure The owner occupied sector is the dominant tenure in the Study area as illustrated in the table below: East Belfast City Council Area Owner Occupied Social Rented * Private Rented Other rented ** 19731 (64%) 7428 (24%) 3023 (10%) 538 (2%) Castlereagh Council Area 9541 (70%) 3550 (26%) 278 (2%) 181 (2%) Total Study Area 29272 (66%) 10978 (25%) 3301 (7%) 719 (2%) Table 5 Household Tenure (2001 Census) * Includes Housing Executive and Housing Associations ** Includes renting from an employer, relative or friend Some interesting facts emerge from this analysis, most notably: • Owner occupation is higher than the Belfast average of 57%. The Northern Ireland average in 2001 was 69%. • Private rental is increasing rapidly across all areas but particularly in urban areas. The current rapid growth in house prices and investor activity will further increase the sector. In parts of South Belfast, private rental is now the dominant tenure and there is evidence that the growth is spreading outward. • The social housing stock has declined significantly since 2001 as the continued popularity of the House Sales scheme has resulted in high levels of sales throughout the study area. Furthermore redundant and unpopular housing stock has been removed in areas such as the Lower Newtownards Road, Connswater and Tullycarnet. 4.4 Social Housing The total social housing stock in the East Belfast Sectoral Study area is currently approximately 8,000 units, 6500 Housing Executive and 1500 Housing Association. Approximately 60% of the Housing Executive dwellings are houses, the remainder bungalows, flats and maisonettes. Large numbers of houses have been sold under the Right to Buy provisions. Over half of the Housing Association dwellings are purpose built flats. This reflects the fact that many Housing Associations initially concentrated on the provision of sheltered accommodation for older people and other specific needs groups. A Common Selection Scheme for all social housing was introduced in 2000. The number of applicants on the Waiting List is illustrated in the graph below. Following a period of stability in the years to 2005, waiting lists have increased rapidly in the past 2 19
Page 2 and 3: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction
Page 5 and 6: 2.0 Strategic Context 2.1 Backgroun
Page 7: exacerbating land and property pric
Page 10 and 11: interface around Short Strand/Bally
Page 12 and 13: proposals to create a network of Qu
Page 14 and 15: Knock and Orangefield Wards have th
Page 16 and 17: environment and crime and crime and
Page 20 and 21: years. The current affordability cr
Page 22 and 23: Most areas are experiencing increas
Page 24 and 25: the growing interest in buy to let
Page 26 and 27: 5.0 Private Sector Market Perspecti
Page 28 and 29: Property Type Average Price 2005 Qu
Page 30 and 31: continue in the longer term, the fa
Page 32 and 33: 32 July 2006
Page 34 and 35: 1. Introduction and approach to the
Page 36 and 37: changes to the education system in
Page 38 and 39: significant in the re-branding of S
Page 40 and 41: though one major agent with an exte
Page 42 and 43: that the current price thresholds f
Page 44 and 45: scheme. The scheme is attracting yo
Page 46 and 47: sector for at least the short-term.
Page 48 and 49: 8. Relationship of East Belfast mar
Page 50 and 51: 10. Conclusions 10.1 The overall co
Page 52 and 53: demand and keeping rental levels do
Page 54 and 55: Appendix 2 Northern Ireland Housing

East Belfast Sectoral Study - Northern Ireland Housing Executive

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?