East Belfast Sectoral Study - Northern Ireland Housing Executive

4.5 Owner Occupation
East Belfast continues to be an exceptionally popular housing area and this is reflected
in average house prices which are among the highest in Northern Ireland for all property
types. Owner occupation remains the preferred housing choice for a majority of people.
Levels of owner occupation vary across the study area, ranging from 88% in the
Orangefield Ward to 28% in Ballymacarrett. In the Castlereagh area owner occupation
ranges from 91% in Ballyhanwood to 45% in Cregagh. Generally speaking the level of
owner occupation is much lower in the inner city areas which underwent significant
redevelopment in the past and in the large social estates built in the 1960s and 1970s.
Since 1979 the Housing Executive has sold more than 115,000 dwellings to sitting
tenants across Northern Ireland, the vast majority of which were at generously
discounted prices. This accounts for almost a quarter of the owner occupied sector and
16% of the housing market as a whole. In the study area a total of over 6,500 former
Housing Executive dwellings have been sold, 3,800 in the Castlereagh area and 2,700 in
Belfast. The level of sales has fallen since 2004, when against a background of growing
waiting lists and a realisation that the scheme mitigated against the capability of housing
organisations to meet urgent housing need, the rules on eligibility, discount and
repayment were tightened. The revised scheme now also applies to Housing
Associations, but the nature of much of their stock means that it is unlikely to have a
major impact on the growth of owner occupation in the near future. The average market
value of Housing Executive dwellings sold in the period April 2006 to January 2007
was almost £75,000.
A record number, almost 14,000 new private sector dwellings were started in the year
April 2005 – March 2006 throughout Northern Ireland. In Belfast 1350 new private
sector dwellings were started, a 40% rise from the previous year. Apartments are now
the dominant building form in the private sector in Belfast, reflecting the sharp rise in
land values in the past 2/3 years. It is important to note that a growing proportion of
newly constructed private sector dwellings are entering the private rented sector, thus
limiting the scope for further growth in owner occupation.
4.6 Private Rental
The private rented sector declined in importance throughout the last century as the
combined effect of rent control, large scale redevelopment, particularly in Belfast, and
the growth in owner occupation dramatically affected tenure patterns. In 1991 there
were fewer than 30,000 privately rented dwellings in Northern Ireland, 5.5% of the total
stock.
There has been significant expansion of the sector, particularly since 1996 when there
has been year on year growth. The rate of growth has accelerated rapidly, the number of
dwellings increased at an annual average rate of 2,000 between 1996 and 2001.
However, between 2001 and 2004 this had grown to almost 4,400 per annum, reflecting
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