Newry and Mourne DHP 2012 - Northern Ireland Housing Executive

Newry & Mourne 

District Housing Plan & Local Housing Strategy 2012/13 

better homes for all supporting independent living building stronger communities delivering quality services

Newry & Mourne 

Contents 

Consultation .......................................................................................................... 2 

Foreword .......................................................................................................... 4 

Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 6 

Section 1 Regional Context........................................................................... 11 

1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................11 

1.2 Our housing priorities and programmes .......................................11 

1.3 Funding ..............................................................................................12 

1.4 Policy context....................................................................................13 

1.5 Northern Ireland housing market ...................................................14 

1.6 Fundamental Review of the NIHE ..................................................15 

Section 2 

Newry & Mourne housing market analysis ................................. 17 

2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................17 

2.2 Planning .............................................................................................18 

2.3 Housing Market Profile .....................................................................22 

2.4 Social housing ...................................................................................25 

Section 3 

Newry & Mourne local housing strategy..................................... 28 

3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................28 

3.2 Objective 1 - Better homes for all ..................................................29 

3.3 Objective 2 - Supporting Independent Living..............................35 

3.4 Objective 3 - Building Stronger Communities ..............................37 

3.5 Objective 4 - Delivering Quality Services......................................45 

Appendix 1 

Appendix 2 

Appendix 3 

Appendix 4 

Appendix 5 

Appendix 6 

Appendix 7 

Appendix 8 

Appendix 9 

Newry City profile .......................................................................... 49 

Social Housing Development Programme.................................. 51 

Maintenance and Grants Information......................................... 55 

Social Housing Need Assessment (HNA) 2011-2016.................. 58 

Household composition of housing applicants at 2012 ........... 60 

Housing Executive stock at March 2012 ..................................... 63 

Housing Association stock at March 2012.................................. 65 

Contact details .............................................................................. 67 

Useful Documents.......................................................................... 69 

1

Consultation 

As part of the District Housing Plan process a consultation exercise was 

carried out with key stakeholders in the local housing market. The purpose of 

the consultation exercise was to acquire information and opinion on related 

housing matters within their areas. We thank all those who participated. 

The key issues are included in Section 2 of this report. 

Responses to the District Housing Plan 

This document has been produced by the Housing Executive’s Corporate 

and Area Planning teams. We welcome your comments on this year’s plan. 

Comments should be sent to: 

Mr S Semple, Strategic Planning Manager 

Northern Ireland Housing Executive 

Housing Centre 

2 Adelaide Street 

BELFAST, BT2 8PB 

e-mail: stephen.semple@nihe.gov.uk 

The District Housing Plans for the 26 district councils will be available on our 

website at www.nihe.gov.uk. 

On request, we can provide a copy of the District Housing Plans in 

a language or format that meets your needs, including print, 

Braille, audio cassette, computer disk and DAISY format. 

2

3 

Newry & Mourne

Foreword 

The District Housing Plan is a key element of the Housing Executive’s 

engagement with local government in Northern Ireland. It details Housing 

Executive performance over the past year and the programmes planned for 

your district council area in 2012/13. The Plan highlights the issues shaping 

housing in your area and demonstrates how the Housing Executive is 

addressing these matters. 

The Northern Ireland economy remains fragile and will present challenges for 

the housing market over the next few years. The Northern Ireland Executive’s 

Programme for Government 2011-2015 sets out priorities to be addressed and 

our programmes are adjusted annually to reflect these commitments. 

Although house prices throughout Northern Ireland have continued to fall, 

home ownership is still not a realistic or viable alternative for many of those 

seeking to be housed in the social housing sector. Much of the pressure for 

delivering homes therefore continues to fall on the social housing and private 

rented sectors. In the past year, housing associations, in partnership with the 

Housing Executive and the Department for Social Development (DSD) started 

work on 1,410 social housing units. However, with reducing levels of public 

funding for new housing, the target for the year ahead will be 1,325 starts. 

The Welfare Reform Act 2012 legislates for the biggest change to the welfare 

system for over 60 years and this will have a significant impact on many 

people. The first changes have been introduced with more to follow. The 

impact on social housing waiting lists, the growth and sustainability of the 

private rented sector, affordable rent levels and homelessness will have to be 

closely monitored, as will the impact on those households directly impacted 

by the changes. 

Reduced public funding in recent years has affected our capability to deliver 

capital programmes to improve our own properties and we are exploring 

other ways of having these properties upgraded. Additionally, reduced 

public funding for private sector grants will continue to limit the work which 

can be achieved in the owner occupied sector. This is likely to affect 

property fitness levels in the longer term. It is noteworthy that unfitness in the 

private housing stock is increasing for the first time in many years. 

It is a time of change as discussions continue on the future arrangements for 

housing in Northern Ireland following the fundamental review carried out by 

PriceWaterhouseCoopers on behalf of DSD. However, whatever the 

outcome, changes will take time to deliver but we must be in a position to 

respond to the opportunity such changes will present. We need to continue 

4


to ensure we deliver high quality services to all our customers during any 

period of transition. 

Throughout this report, you will see many examples of our work, the scope of 

our business and the impact housing has on the local community. We are 

committed to working with communities and partner organisations to ensure 

shared and safe neighbourhoods and we thank those who have supported 

us in the past year. We would also like to extend our thanks to the Housing 

Council for their significant input to housing policy over the past year. 

Dr John McPeake 

Chief Executive 

Mr Brian Rowntree 

Chairman 

5

Executive Summary 

Each year the Housing Executive publishes District Housing Plans for the 26 

district councils in Northern Ireland. These documents form part of our 

statutory requirement to consult with councils on our programmes and 

performance. 

Section 1 Regional Context 

Section 1 outlines priorities and spending for the year ahead. It also gives a 

brief overview of policy issues affecting housing and summarises some of the 

main issues from the Housing Market Review and Perspectives Report. 

Section 2 Newry and Mourne housing market analysis 

It should be noted that the House Condition Survey 2009 (HCS) figures are 

collated for Newry & Mourne and Down Council areas. 

Planning 

• There is remaining potential for 6,553 units of new housing to 2015 – 

Department of the Environment (DOE) Planning Land Availability Report 

2011; 

• The RDS 2035, encourages clustering of towns 

and cities to stimulate co-operation and enable 

settlements to attract economic development 

and deliver services that are functionally 

sustainable. Newry is identified as having the 

potential to ‘cluster’ with Dundalk; 

• The Banbridge/Newry and Mourne Area Plan 

2015 is at draft stage. The draft plan sets out the 

proposed policies and designations for the plan 

area. 

Socio-economic statistics 

• The population of Newry and Mourne is projected to increase by 15% by 

2020 and although the number of households is also projected to increase, 

the average household size is projected to decrease; 

• There is no significant percentage change projected in the overall age 

group profile of the District to 2020; 

• The council area is the 5 th least deprived in Northern Ireland, according to 

the most recent Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure (2010); 

• The percentage of the workforce in receipt of unemployment related 

benefits at March 2012 was 5.9%, which is higher than the Northern Ireland 

figure of 5.4%; 

• 49.1% of households were in fuel poverty in Newry & Mourne and Down, 

6


the second highest figure in Northern Ireland. (Source HCS 2009). 

Housing Market Statistics 

• The total housing stock in Newry & Mourne and Down is 63,060; owner 

occupation remains the largest tenure (Source HCS); 

• The district’s social housing sector, at 9.8%, is among the lowest in Northern 

Ireland (15%); 

• Housing unfitness in Newry & Mourne and Down at 2.9% is higher than the 

Northern Ireland figure of 2.4% (Source HCS); 

• In 2007, the average house price in Newry & Mourne was £239,890 

(Northern Ireland average £233,415), and at 2011 had dropped to 

£130,656 (Northern Ireland average £139,800); 

• Housing Executive housing stock at March 2012 totalled 3,075 units with 

7,870 units sold to date, of which 6,023 were houses; 

• At April 2012, there were 1,576 social housing applicants of which 914 

(58%) were in housing stress; 

• During 2011/12 there were 805 homeless presenters of which 322 (40%) 

were awarded full duty applicant status; 

• The housing market in Newry & 

Mourne District continues to be 

impacted by the downturn in the 

local economy. Market confidence 

is weak and market adjustments 

are ongoing; 

• The private rented sector remains 

popular and demand continues to 

outstrip supply. Recent changes to 

Housing Benefit entitlement may 

create affordability pressures for 

some private sector tenants; 

• Despite the reduction in house prices, affordability remains an issue 

particularly for first-time buyers. Growing unemployment, reducing 

spending power, and restrictive lending practices all impact upon the 

affordability issue. 

Section 3 Newry & Mourne Local Housing Strategy 

In the past year (2011/12) in Newry & Mourne District we spent £9.769 million, 

excluding new-build investment and the cost of maintaining estates through 

our grounds maintenance programme. Performance for 2011/12 and 

programmes for 2012/13 are reported under our four Corporate Objectives. 

7

Corporate Objective 1: Better homes for all 

• During 2011/12, eleven general needs social housing schemes were 

completed which delivered 121 housing units; 

• At March 2012, six general needs social housing schemes were on site, 

which will add a further 39 dwellings; 

• During 2011/12 we completed 110 heating installations; 

• During 2012/13 we plan to commence double glazing to 158 dwellings, 

carry out external cyclical maintenance to 185 dwellings, heating 

installation to 430 dwellings and kitchen replacement to 85 dwellings; 

• There were 18 renovation grants, 9 replacement grants, 42 repair grants 

and 38 home repair assistance grants completed in 2011/12; 

• The anticipated expenditure during 

the year for Newry and Mourne 

District will be £8.927 million excluding 

new-build investment, Warm Homes 

Scheme and grounds maintenance; 

• In the year to March 2012, the Warm 

Homes Scheme facilitated the 

insulation of 660 homes, 8 heating 

installations and provision of both 

insulation and heating to 14 homes; 

• During 2012 we will implement an Empty Homes Strategy to bring vacant 

properties back into use. 

Corporate Objective 2: Supporting Independent Living 

• During 2011/12 there were 94 disabled facilities grants completed in the 

private sector and 38 adaptations were completed to our own stock; 

• £2.707 million was spent during 2011/12 

on providing Supporting People 

services. A similar level of funding 

(£2.706 million) has been budgeted for 

2012/13; 

• 33 supported housing schemes were funded in 2011/12 for a range of 

client groups, this also included two floating support schemes; 

• We continue to assess need for new wheelchair housing; 

• We provide a range of services to tackle homelessness in line with our 

homelessness strategy; 

• A need has been identified for a six unit Traveller group housing scheme in 

8


Bessbrook. Work is ongoing to identify land for a transit site in Newry. 

Corporate Objective 3: Building stronger communities 

• We continue to ensure housing issues are identified in the regeneration of 

Newry as envisaged in the Town Centre Masterplan; 

• Nine new rural social housing units were 

commenced in 2011/12; 

• During 2011/12 we completed latent 

demand tests in Attical and 

Glassdrumman; 

• We encourage all tenants to sign up to our Good Neighbour Agreement; 

• During 2011/12, recorded incidents of anti-social behaviour have 

increased. One property was repossessed, and five cases referred to 

mediation services; 

• We work to deliver projects of a cross community nature including the new 

Shared Communities Programme; 

• We will implement and report progress on the Community Involvement 

Transitional Strategy; 

• We work in partnership with the statutory, community and voluntary 

sectors in developing and delivering community safety at estate level; 

• We implement the recommendations of the Housing and Health strategy; 

• We implement the regional Good 

Relations BRIC programme which aims 

to ’put good relations at the heart of 

social housing’; 

• We continue to implement the Race 

Relations policy. 

Corporate Objective 4: Delivering quality services 

• We manage services in a cost effective manner; 

• We provide high quality and responsive services for our customers; 

• We continue to improve services through our modernising services 

programme; 

• We will continue to ensure that a high quality service is delivered to 

residents in the District. 

Appendices 

The final section contains appendices showing statistics, contact details and 

useful links for further information on topics discussed in the Plan. 

9


Section 1 Regional Context 

1.1 Introduction 

Our plans are constructed to reflect government policy as set out in the 

Programme for Government 2011-2015, published in March 2012. In addition, 

our policies and plans are developed in the context of a number of 

government strategies including: the Sustainable Development Strategy; Anti- 

Poverty Strategy; and the Department for Social Development’s priorities. 

Our policies are developed with equality considerations incorporated from 

the outset. We consult regularly with our partners in the Consultative Forum 

on equality issues and through the Housing Council and the Housing 

Community Network. 

Together, the Review of the Northern Ireland Housing Market, the Corporate 

Plan and the District Housing Plans represent our overall housing strategy for 

Northern Ireland. 

1.2 Our housing priorities and programmes 

Our work is set in the context of Government priorities and available finance. 

The Programme for Government 2011-2015 requires that the Housing 

Executive bring forward a strategy to improve the thermal efficiency of our 

housing stock including a programme aimed at providing full double glazing 

by 2014/15 and the delivery of 6,000 new social and 2,000 new affordable 

units over the period. 

Reduced levels of public funding and significantly lower levels of income 

from the sale of our assets continue to present challenges. We have 

prioritised our work for the year ahead. There remains an ongoing need to 

invest in both the private and social housing sectors to maintain conditions 

and to alleviate fuel poverty. 

Our priorities are as follows: 

• New social and affordable house building; 

• Promoting energy efficiency and helping to combat fuel poverty in the 

residential sector; 

• Improving the thermal efficiency of our housing stock, including a 

programme of double glazing to all our stock by 2015; 

• Addressing dereliction and promoting investment in the physical 

regeneration of deprived areas through the Social Investment Fund; 

• Tackling poverty and social exclusion through our Supporting People and 

Sustaining Tenancies Strategies; 

11

• Tackling rural poverty and isolation in association with our Rural Housing 

Strategy; 

• Considering the implications of the Welfare Reform Programme; 

• Better community relations, community development, community safety, 

participation and cohesion. 

Section 3 gives details of our local performance and programmes which are 

set out under our four new Corporate Objectives. 

1.3 Funding 

The level of reductions in the Northern Ireland Budget following the 

Comprehensive Spending Review 2010 expect the Housing Executive to cut 

capital expenditure by 40% over the four years and 5% of revenue 

expenditure in each of those years. 

Our budgets continue to be restricted and affect all areas of work including 

new build developments, and improvements or grants to existing homes. 

Therefore, we cannot deliver the level of investment required to improve 

housing conditions in both the social and private sectors. We will seek further 

funding during the course of the year through the 'monitoring round' process. 

Delivery of our programmes and services depends on rental income, the sale 

of assets including land and house sales and government subsidy. The 

effects of the recession on the housing market continue to impact on levels 

of income, particularly with regard to the reduced value and number of sales 

of our assets. 

We make a considerable investment to housing in Northern Ireland each 

year. During 2011/12 we spent £331.8 million on our mainstream programme 

expenditure, including capital costs associated with improvement 

programmes, together with the revenue costs of maintenance and other 

improvement programmes, private sector grants and the Social Housing 

Development Programme. 

The 2012/13 proposed spend for our mainstream programmes is £295.2 

million. Funding of £93.1 million is available for the Social Housing 

Development Programme to enable delivery of 1,325 new social housing 

starts (1,000 general needs housing and 325 supported housing). 

Funding for the 2012/13 Capital Improvement Programme is £12.5 million and 

£171.1 million for our Maintenance Programme. Expenditure for private sector 

grants will be around £18.5 million, to enable approval of mandatory 

Disabled Facility and Repairs Grants and to take into account previous 

committed expenditure on both mandatory and discretionary grants. 

12


1.4 Policy context 

The Northern Ireland Executive has made the economy its top priority in the 

Programme for Government and in March 2012 published the Northern 

Ireland Economic Strategy ‘Priorities for Sustainable Growth and Prosperity’. 

This strategy aims to rebalance the economy by growing private sector 

activity in the longer term and rebuilding the economy to secure 

employment growth in the short to medium term. 

The planning context for housing, in Northern Ireland, is set by the 

Department of Regional Development’s Regional Development Strategy 

(RDS) 2035, the Department Of Environment’s Planning Policy Statements 

(PPS) and Area Plans. The new RDS 2035, ‘Building a Better Future’, published 

in March 2012, replaces the 2001 RDS ‘Shaping Our Future’. The purpose of 

the RDS is to guide development in the region until 2035 and provides spatial 

expression for the priorities contained in the Programme for Government. 

Reform of the Planning System has culminated in the Planning Act 2011. A 

key aim of this legislation is to transfer the majority of planning powers from 

the DOE to new councils, scheduled to be in place by 2015. The councils will 

take responsibility for Area Plans and for the Development Management of 

local and major planning applications. The DOE will retain responsibility for 

regionally significant development and Planning Policy. In preparation for 

the transfer of planning functions, the DOE has established two divisions, one 

comprising of Local Area Planning Offices, which have responsibility for the 

functions transferring to the councils, and a Strategic Planning Division, whose 

functions will remain with the DOE. 

Housing has been impacted by planning policy statements in recent years 

with the introduction of PPS 12 (Housing in Settlements) and PPS 21 

(Sustainable Development in the Countryside). The review of PPS12 by a multi 

agency steering group, incorporating DOE, DSD and the Housing Executive, 

continues to consider ways of securing delivery of additional social and 

affordable housing via developer contributions. 

The 2010 Housing (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) placed a duty on the 

Housing Executive to formulate and publish a homelessness strategy. An 

extensive range of government agencies are obliged to take the 

homelessness strategy into account in the exercise of their own functions. The 

Homelessness Strategy 2012-2017 was published in May 2012. The aim of the 

new strategy is that long term homelessness and rough sleeping can be 

eliminated across Northern Ireland by 2020. 

13

In 2011/12 the Housing Executive was provided with additional powers to 

tackle anti-social behaviour contained in the Housing (Amendment) (No 2) 

Bill. These new powers include: 

• Enabling the Housing Executive and registered housing associations to 

withhold consent to an exchange of tenancies on the basis of anti-social 

behaviour; 

• Requirement for judges, when considering applications for possession 

orders, to take account of the likely effect of the behaviour on neighbours 

as well as the effect that a possession order would have on the tenant. 

Our environmental policy includes a commitment to ensure that all activities 

and decisions make a positive contribution to the Sustainable Development 

Strategy for Northern Ireland. The Housing Executive actively monitors our 

own activities against a set of performance measures to help gauge progress 

in terms of sustainable development best practice. 

The Government has introduced the Welfare Reform Bill and a separate Bill 

will be published for Northern Ireland in 2012. The Bill introduces a new benefit 

‘Universal Credit’ which will come into effect in October 2013 and will replace 

all existing working age benefits and tax credits. There will be a phased 

transfer of existing Housing Benefit caseload to Universal Credit for working 

age claimants and to Pension Credit for pensioners from 2014 to 2017. It is 

envisaged that these measures will simplify the current benefit system, 

improve work incentives, reduce administration costs and help reduce fraud. 

Housing Benefit entitlement levels and rates have been amended as part of 

the Welfare Reform Bill. Changes relating to the Local Housing Allowance 

were introduced in April 2011 for new private tenants and in January 2012 for 

existing private tenants. In January 2012 the age range was extended for 

Shared Room Rate for single claimants from 25 to 35. Further changes are 

planned for April 2013 which includes a reduction in Housing Benefit for 

claimants under-occupying social rented accommodation and the end of 

the existing Housing Benefit scheme for rates liability. The impact of these 

changes on the housing market and particularly tenure choice is as yet 

difficult to predict. 

1.5 Northern Ireland housing market 

The Housing Executive publishes an annual Review of the Housing Market 

which sets out trends and key developments across tenures. The report helps 

in setting policy direction and resource priorities for the year ahead. 

Northern Ireland households face the combined effects of a declining 

manufacturing base, lower rates of public expenditure, higher fuel and food 

14


prices and an increase in local taxation. Main headlines from the Review of 

the Housing Market are: 

• By the fourth quarter of 2011, house prices had returned to 2005 levels; 

• The private rented sector accounts for 16.5% of occupied housing tenures 

at 2011. Changes to housing benefit are likely to affect this sector; 

• Through our Net Stock Model, we have assessed that 2,000 new social 

dwellings are required each year; 

• Housing conditions have declined with 4.6% of Northern Ireland’s total 

stock deemed unfit compared to 2.4% at 2009; 

• The level of fuel poverty stood at 44% in 2009, reflecting in particular the 

rise in fuel prices over this period. Figures for 2011 are expected later in the 

year. 

Demographic trends have important implications for the design and number 

of new dwellings required and also for housing support services. It should be 

noted that projections are based on trends and current housing conditions. 

The following statistics are of note: 

• The population of Northern Ireland is projected to grow to 1,917,000 by 

2020; 

• The number of children under 16 is forecast to grow by c. 15,000 over the 

next ten years but the share of the overall population will decrease; 

• The number and proportion of people of pensionable age will grow from 

308,000 to 330,000, however, the number of people aged 75 and over is 

projected to increase substantially between 2010 and 2020: by 41,000 to 

158,000; 

• The number of households is projected to grow by 80,000 between 2010 

and 2020; however, the average household size is projected to decrease 

from 2.51 to 2.39 by 2020. 

Although the unemployment rate is lower than the rest of the UK at 6.8% at 

March 2012, the reliance on public sector jobs makes us vulnerable to 

reducing budgets. 

1.6 Fundamental Review of the NIHE 

In June 2011 the Housing Executive Board approved an approach to the 

structural review which would provide an analysis of the review proposals 

contained in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) fundamental review of 

housing. We await the Minister’s decision on the future arrangements for 

housing in Northern Ireland and the publication of a new Housing Strategy for 

Northern Ireland which will refresh the focus on housing issues. 

15


Section 2 Newry & Mourne housing market analysis 


Section 2 analyses the main factors that influence the local housing market 

and inform our housing need assessment. These include the planning context 

within which the District Housing Plan is set, demographic trends, socioeconomic 

issues and information on housing stock. 

Map 1: 

Newry & Mourne District Council Area 

Source: NIHE GIS 

The geographical area of Newry District is detailed in the map above. Newry 

City is the largest settlement within the District. 

The District is substantially rural in character with approximately 53% of the 

district’s population living in rural areas. The Northern Ireland Statistic and 

Research Agency (NISRA) defines ‘rural’ as a settlement of less than 4,500 

people. The rural area in Newry District includes all other settlements other 

than Newry, Kilkeel and Warrenpoint. 

17

2.2 Planning 

Physical Planning 

The planning context is set out in the Regional Development Strategy (RDS) 

for Northern Ireland 2035: ‘Building a Better Future’, a framework for the 

spatial development of Northern Ireland. The RDS encourages clustering of 

towns and cities to stimulate co-operation and enable settlements to attract 

economic development and deliver services that are functionally 

sustainable. Newry is identified as having the potential to ‘cluster’ with 

Dundalk 

The Banbridge, Newry and Mourne Area Plan 2015 is at the draft stage. The 

plan will replace the existing plans for these two districts and will present the 

policies, proposals and designations for the area. 

The Department for Regional Development’s (DRD) Housing Growth 

Indicators show the new build requirement for the district during the period 

1998-2015 as 11,200 additional dwellings. The Northern Ireland Housing Land 

Availability Report for 2011 prepared by DOE Planning states that 5,347 new 

dwellings were completed in the District during the period January 1999 to 

July 2011, with a potential for a further 6,622 dwellings. 

Regeneration initiatives for Newry & Mourne District include the Newry City 

Centre Masterplan. This was commissioned by the Department for Social 

Development (DSD) in May 2010 and launched in Autumn 2011 following 

public consultation. The masterplan is a fifteen year framework for 

development for the City centre. It includes proposals for the development of 

opportunity sites throughout the City, promoting mixed-use development, 

developing cultural and heritage projects and enhancing the public realm. 

During 2011/12, the Housing Executive continued to work with Department of 

Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and to liaise locally with Southern 

Organisation for Action in Rural Areas (SOAR) which is the delivery 

mechanism for Axis 3 of the Northern Ireland Rural Development programme 

in the rural areas of Armagh, Craigavon and Newry. The aim of Axis 3 is to 

improve the quality of life in rural areas and encouraging the diversification of 

economic activity which includes the following measures: 

• Diversification into non-agricultural activities; 

• Support for business creation and development; 

• Encouragement of tourism activities; 

• Basic services for the economy and rural population; 

• Village renewal and development; 

• Conservation and upgrading of rural heritage. 

18


Our staff contributed to Village Renewal studies undertaken in the SOAR 

area. The Housing Executive also introduced a pilot rural regeneration fund 

through which we supported a small number of schemes contributing to the 

‘Village Renewal’ strand of DARD’s Rural Development Programme - where 

these have beneficial housing or community outcomes. 

In 2011 we submitted our views to DARD on the draft Rural White Paper 

Action Plan for Northern Ireland, highlighting those actions where housing 

can contribute to rural development. We are currently awaiting publication 

of the agreed Action Plan and will avail of any opportunities that it creates to 

further progress rural regeneration. We would hope to link these Rural White 

Paper activities into our own Rural Action Plan which is currently under review. 

Socio economic Planning 

The population of Newry & Mourne District increased by 16% between 2000 

and 2010 and is projected to increase by a further 15% by 2020. During the 

same ten year period, the number of households is projected to increase by 

17.8%. 

Changing demographic trends, particularly in age profiles and average 

household size, are important factors in planning for new housing. Statistics 

indicate a need for a larger proportion of dwellings for smaller household 

groups. 

At 2009, migrant worker families from central and eastern Europe represented 

approximately 4% of the population of the District. The District has attracted 

a more diverse population through migration, however since 2008 numbers of 

new migrant workers have fallen because of fewer economic and 

employment opportunities. Recent consultation with local estate agents 

concluded that the majority of migrant workers continue to live in the private 

rented sector. There has been no significant increase in the number of 

migrant workers seeking housing in the social sector. 

Community cohesion can contribute to the proper functioning of the housing 

market. The Housing Executive continues to work along with other agencies 

and local groups to build a stronger community, particularly in areas of social 

need. Further detail of this and information on district specific activity is 

available in Section 3. 

Inevitably the local economy has been affected by the recent recession. 

Newry and Mourne Council is ranked the fifth most deprived local 

government district in NISRA‘s Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 

(2010). 

19

At March 2012, the unemployment claimant count rate (based on the 

working population) was 5.9% for the District while the equivalent rate for the 

whole of Northern Ireland was 5.4%; 

The 2009 Census of Employment figures for the District (excluding agriculture) 

indicated that 15% of the workforce was employed in manufacturing, 6% in 

construction and 77% in services. This pattern broadly reflects that of 

Northern Ireland as a whole. 

The private house building sector has been severely affected with local 

estate agents confirming that the number of house sales has continued to fall 

in the past twelve months. The housing market is reported as consistently 

poor with a relatively high number of unsold properties, and there seems no 

immediate prospect of a turnaround. 

Mountainview, Warrenpoint 

20


Table 1: Socio economic statistics 

Population 

Mid Year Estimate Mid Year Estimate 

2000 2010 

Projected 2020 

Population 85,942 99,880 114,481 

Household - 34,900 41,100 

Household Size - 2.84 2.76 

No of children 23,461 (27%) 23,896 (24%) 27,836 (24%) 

No of working age 50,763 (59%) 61,464 (62%) 70,387 (62%) 

No of older 

people 

11,718 (14%) 14,520 (14%) 16,258 (14%) 

Estimated Net 

International 

Migration 

July07-June 08 July 08-June 09 July 09-June 10 

Newry & Mourne 1,223 692 427 

NI Multiple 

Deprivation 

Measure 2010 

LGD Rank 1-26 

(1 most deprived) 

Most deprived 

Super Output Area 

Least Deprived 

Super Output Area 

Newry & Mourne 5 Drumgullion Windsor Hill 

Source: NISRA 

Unemployment 

Benefit 

No of 

unemployment 

benefit claims 

3,638 (6.1%) 3,944 (6.2%) 3,736 (5.9%) 

Source: DETI NI 

Housing Benefit March 2010 March 2011 March 2012 

NIHE tenants in 

receipt of Housing 

Benefit 

Fuel Poverty 

March 2010 March 2011 March 2012 


HCS 06 

2,548 2,561 2,545 

Newry/Down 

HCS 09 

NI 

HCS 09 

% in Fuel Poverty 39.2% 49.1% 43.7% 

Source: NIHE 

At 2009 there was a higher percentage (49.1%) of households in Newry and 

Down in fuel poverty than the Northern Ireland average of 43.7%. Rises in 

energy prices have contributed to the sharp escalation in fuel poverty. 

21

2.3 Housing Market Profile 

Preliminary figures from the 2011 House Condition Survey were available in 

March 2012. Key findings at the Northern Ireland level will be available later 

in the year and district council level figures will emerge during 2013 following 

publication of the 2011 Census. Information for the 2009 House Condition 

Survey was collected on the basis of the proposed new council boundaries 

under the Review of Public Administration, combining Newry & Mourne with 

Down District Council (Newry & Down district). This change of boundary 

means that figures cannot be compared with previous surveys. 

At 2009, the housing stock in the Newry & Down district was approximately 

63,060 units. The private rented sector accounted for approximately 21% of 

total stock, higher than the Northern Ireland figure of 17%. Social housing 

represented 9.8% of local stock which was less than the Northern Ireland 

figure of 15%. The percentage of vacant stock in the Newry & Down district 

was 7.3% and this was higher than the Northern Ireland figure of 5.9%. 

Despite housing conditions continuing to improve, unfitness for the proposed 

Newry & Down district in 2009 was 2.9%, which was higher than the regional 

figure of 2.4%. Higher unfitness levels are typically found in rural areas and in 

vacant stock. 

Owner occupation is the most popular tenure in the District. However, there 

are strong indications that although the number of owner occupied dwellings 

may grow over the coming years, its tenure share of the overall housing 

market will not increase. Ongoing economic uncertainty and restricted 

lending practices continue to limit construction and transactions. 

Reports from local estate agents indicate that the housing market continues 

to be slow. Newry City remains the most popular location within the district 

requested by potential buyers. 

In 2007, the average house price in Newry & Mourne District was higher than 

the Northern Ireland average but since 2008 this has reversed, suggesting that 

the housing market may have had to re-adjust more significantly than 

Northern Ireland as a whole. During 2011 there were 74 new build property 

sales in the District. The brief recovery in the property market that had begun 

during 2009 has not been sustained and market adjustment is on-going. 

Limited access to mortgages, an increase in potential vendors and a loss of 

confidence brought on by budgetary cuts has resulted in further market 

uncertainty and increasing affordability pressure. The increase in the private 

rented tenure is an indication that the owner occupied sector continues to 

prove inaccessible to many potential buyers. 

22


Northern Ireland Co-ownership Housing Association assists those on low 

income to access the owner occupied sector. A total of 546 properties have 

been purchased through the scheme in Newry & Mourne District, 16 of those 

in the past financial year. 

Another route to low cost owner occupation has been the purchase of social 

housing from the Housing Executive or housing associations by existing 

tenants. However, the number of Housing Executive house sale transactions 

has dropped considerably since 2007. In 2011/12, only six houses were sold to 

Housing Executive tenants under the House Sales scheme. 

The private rented sector has grown significantly in Northern Ireland since 

2001 and provides many benefits, such as: 

• Open access; 

• Responsiveness, especially in meeting demand from new and emerging 

markets; 

• Flexibility; 

• Diversity and choice in terms of property type and location; 

• Freedom from responsibility from repairs and maintenance; 

• Enabling people to house share more easily; 

• Creating more shared communities. 

Local estate agents indicate that the private rented sector is an important 

housing option within the District, with Newry and Warrenpoint having the 

highest concentrations. 

Private sector Housing Benefit claims continue to increase. Since 2009 the 

increase reflects both the economic climate in Newry & Mourne and a rise in 

the number of households choosing to live in the private rented sector. 

Private rental remains an important housing option for an increasing number 

of younger households who face affordability pressures. In the past twelve 

months, there have been significant changes to housing benefit entitlement 

and it remains to be seen how this will impact on tenants in receipt of this 

benefit across the district and Northern Ireland. 

The Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) sector can provide affordable 

housing for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in 

society including benefit claimants or those on low incomes, students and 

foreign migrant workers. For many of these individuals, HMOs represent the 

only housing option available. The Housing Executive uses a combination of 

methods – inspection, grant aid and enforcement orders – to raise standards 

in HMOs. There are 31 registered HMO in the District. 

23

Table 2: Housing Statistics (Stock Information) 

Newry & 

Mourne HCS 

2006 


HCS 2009 

Owner 

Occupied 

Social 

Stock 

Private 

Rented 

Vacant 

Total 

26,020 3,850 2,400 2,090 34,360 

39,290 6,160 13,020 4,590 63,060 

NI HCS 2009 461,800 110,200 124,600 43,400 740,000 

Housing 

Conditions 

(all stock) 

Newry & 

Mourne 

2006 


2009 

NI 2006 NI 2009 

Unfitness 5.3% 2.9% 3.4% 2.4% 

Fail Decent 

Homes Std 

30.7% 17.6% 23% 15.1% 

Source: NIHE House Condition Survey 

Private Sector 

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 

Activity 


New Build Starts 

230 * * * 196 

NI New Build Starts 12,488 7,879 6,140 6,339 5,041 


Average House £239,890 £188,660 £149,553 £155,008 £130,656 

Price 

NI Average 

House Price 

Source: NHBC & University of Ulster * Information 

Private Housing 

Benefit Newry & 2008 


£233,415 £218,145 £160,855 £156,746 £139,800 

is not available 

2009 2010 

2011 2012 

No of Claims 2,917 3,179 3,694 3,992 4,235 

No of Housing 

Association Claims 

520 581 691 770 871 

Source: NIHE 

Information for the 2009 House Condition Survey was collected on the basis of the proposed new 

council boundaries under the Review of Public Administration combining Newry & Mourne with Down 

District. This change of boundary means that figures cannot be compared with previous surveys. 

Local Housing Allowance for 3 bedrooms = up to £90.00 pw from April 2012 

24


2.4 Social housing 

During the past five years the average number of applicants in housing stress 

has been 1,012 with the number of allocations averaging 267 per annum. At 

April 2012 the single household group represented 46% of housing stress 

applicants with families accounting for 39%. The gap between housing stress 

and allocations may be attributed to a number of factors; a current shortfall 

in social housing provision, a shortage of opportunities in the private-rented 

sector as well as more general difficulties for first-time buyers in securing a 

mortgage. 

The housing need projection for five years to 2016 has identified a need for 

1,027 units across the Newry District. Projections are calculated using waiting 

list trends, supply trends and other demographic and local information. 

Should public sector constraints continue to impact on the budget for social 

housing, this will inevitably affect the delivery of schemes locally. 

Across the District, there are considerable variations in the level of need for 

social housing. Newry City as the main urban centre displays the most acute 

social housing need, followed by Warrenpoint. Full details of the Housing 

Needs Assessment are included in Appendix 4. 

Homeless applicants are included in the overall waiting list figures. However it 

is possible to analyse homelessness separately. The number of people 

presenting has increased and the number of applicants being awarded full 

duty status is at a similar level to last year. 

Current Housing Executive stock within the District is 3,075 dwellings, the 

majority of which are houses and bungalows. Since the introduction of the 

House Sales scheme, 72% of Housing Executive properties have been 

purchased in the council area. The remaining stock is managed to ensure 

that vacancies are kept to a minimum. At the end of March 2012 only 24 

properties were vacant. 

25

Table 3: Social housing statistics Public sector 

5 Year projected need to March 2016 1 

Newry City 526 

Local towns 192 

Villages 274 

Small settlements 35 

Total 1,027 

Newry & Mourne Social Housing Waiting List trends 

December 

2007 

December 

2008 

December 

2009 

December 

2010 

March/April 

2012 

All Applicants 1,763 1,800 1,762 1,778 1,576 

Housing Stress 1,084 1,095 1,021 949 914 

Allocations 171 243 339 287 295 

Newry & Mourne Waiting list sub-set of homeless applicants 

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 

Number 

Presented 

Awarded Full 

Duty Status 

726 781 742 770 805 

335 362 343 324 322 

Newry & Mourne Housing Executive Sales Information & Housing Association 

(HA) Starts 

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 

HA New Build 

Starts Newry & 98 61 112 59 


NIHE House Sales 


Average Market 

Value 

Source: NIHE 

3 10 8 6 

£99,333 £82,800 £71,250 £68,000 

1 Projected housing need is calculated using a number of factors such as waiting list trends; supply 

trends; specific local issues; regeneration and rural proofing. 

26

27 

Newry & Mourne

Section 3 Newry & Mourne local housing strategy 


The Newry & Mourne housing market analysis identified a number of housing 

issues within the district, including difficulty in accessing mortgage finance, 

shortage of private rental accommodation, homelessness, fuel poverty and 

the need for additional social housing in some locations. These issues present 

significant challenges in the current economic climate. 

This section sets out our priorities for the current year as well as our 

performance for the past year. Our programmes are set out under our four 

new Corporate Objectives. 

The Housing Executive’s projected investment within Newry & Mourne District 

in 2012/13 is £8.927 million, excluding the new-build investment which is not 

yet finalised, and the Warm Homes Scheme. 

Table 4: Newry & Mourne District actual and projected spend 

Activity areas 

Actual Spend 

£m 

Projected spend 

£m 

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 

Capital improvement work 0.285 0.239 0.520 

Planned maintenance work 3.271 2.420 2.890 

Response maintenance* 1.326 1.953 1.455 

Private Sector Grants 1.924 1.791 1.356 

Warm Homes 0.599 0.631 ** 

Supporting People 2.671 2.735 2.706 

Total 10.076 9.769 8.927 

Investment in New Build*** 13.651 6.854 **** 

Source: NIHE 

*Response maintenance figures include minor Disabled Person Adaptations, redecoration and 

displacement grants. 

**Warm Homes spend is demand led and cannot be projected at District level. 

*** Investment in new build is the total cost of schemes starting in the programme year but which may 

be spent over more than one year. The amount includes Housing Association Grant funding by 

Government subsidy which was £7.678 million for 112 units (2010/11) and £2.949 million for 59 units 

(2011/12). 

**** The 2012/13 Social Housing Development Programme contains 59 units, total cost of units has not 

been finalised. 

28


Grounds Maintenance information cannot be reported at a district level and 

therefore it is shown at an Area level in Table 5. 

Table 5: South Area actual spend 2010/11-2011/12 

Activity Areas 

Actual Spend 

£m 

2010/11 2011/12 

Grounds Maintenance 1.824 1.984 

Source: NIHE 

3.2 Objective 1 - Better homes for all 

To establish better homes for all, we aim to increase the supply of social 

housing as well as improve the standard of our existing stock so that more 

meet Decent Home Standards. We will also continue to support 

improvement to homes in the private sector. Thermal efficiency has become 

increasingly important given the rising costs of energy and high levels of fuel 

poverty and we aim to improve this across all tenures in Northern Ireland. We 

will develop an Empty Homes Strategy to bring empty homes back into use. 

The Social Housing Development Programme contains proposed Housing 

Association schemes to meet social housing need in Northern Ireland. The 

programme is based on our housing need assessments and strategic 

guidelines. The primary purpose of the guidelines is to allocate programme 

share on an equitable basis. 

Social housing schemes may contain a variety of housing forms and house 

sizes. When preparing a housing mix for individual schemes we take into 

consideration a number of factors such as household types, current stock, 

wheelchair users needs, and where need has been identified, bespoke 

properties for those with complex needs. 

Details of the Social Housing Development Programme approved by DSD 

and the Board of the Housing Executive are shown in Appendix 2. 

Due to the restrictions on public finance, the Social Housing Development 

Programme is unable to meet all of the social housing need for Northern 

Ireland. To assist housing associations to identify where remaining need exists, 

we provide an Unmet Housing Need Prospectus. Details of the Prospectus 

are available on our website at 

www.nihe.gov.uk/index/www_home/unmet_need_prospectus.htm 

For those tenants who wish to buy their homes but are unable to afford the 

full cost, the Equity Sharing Scheme provides an option through a part 

29

own/part rent approach. Further information on this can be found at 

www.nihe.gov.uk/house_sales_incorporating_equity_sharing_tenants_guide.pdf. 

The Programme for Government 2011-2015 sets a target for delivery of 6,000 

social and 2,000 affordable houses over the period. The DSD is developing a 

policy to develop affordable Intermediate Housing (defined as Shared 

Ownership and Shared Equity products) on surplus Housing Executive land. 

We are currently working with the DSD to pilot three locations for intermediate 

housing. Phase 2 of this work will look at the potential to incorporate mixed 

tenure schemes into the Social Housing Development Programme. 

We continue to work with DSD to examine a range of aspects of the Housing 

Selection Scheme and intend to consult on draft proposals for change during 

the year ahead. 

The expansion of the private rented sector has been so marked in recent 

years that it is now the second largest tenure in Northern Ireland and plays a 

critical role in the housing market. The primary objective for DSD’s ‘Building 

Sound Foundations – A strategy for the private rented sector’, is to create the 

conditions in which the private rented sector contributes fully to meeting our 

rapidly changing housing needs. 

A mandatory landlord registration and a tenancy deposit scheme are due to 

be introduced in 2012 subject to approval by the Assembly. The landlord 

registration scheme will require all landlords to provide details including 

name, address, contact number and property details and this will be held in 

a central register. 

The Housing Executive and DSD are jointly working on ways to more 

effectively use the private rented sector to meet housing need and to 

support low-income and vulnerable tenants to access the sector as a viable 

housing option. 

We work closely with partner housing associations to deliver the Social 

Housing Development Programme across Northern Ireland. Until recently, all 

new social homes had to comply with the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 

3 as the minimum standard. However, Building Regulations are due to be 

updated shortly which will enhance the energy efficiency of all social and 

private dwellings. These enhanced Building Regulations energy standards will 

become the new minimum standards that will be required to be achieved in 

social housing. 

We will continue to support Housing Associations as they seek to develop 

housing that can set the way in terms of even higher levels of energy 

30


efficiency and sustainability. A scheme that will deliver some of the most 

environmentally friendly housing anywhere across the UK will start on a 

Housing Executive site in Carryduff later this year and will be delivered by 

Oaklee Housing Association. Oaklee will also shortly complete a ‘passiv haus’ 

scheme in Dungannon that again has been developed using new 

approaches that make the home more sustainable during both construction 

and occupation. 

We are working in a number of ways to promote and widen the range of 

affordable housing options. Details of programmes are shown in Appendix 2. 

New build scheme at Parkview, Newtowncloghogue 

In the past year in Newry & Mourne: 

• 11 general needs social housing schemes delivered 121 new dwellings; 

• There were six general needs social housing schemes on site at March 2012 

which will add a further 39 dwellings; 

• We supplied DOE Planning with an annual housing needs assessment. 

Locations of housing need were identified on our ‘Unmet Need Prospectus’ 

to direct Housing Associations to areas of need, but where schemes have not 

been programmed. This will help align future delivery of the Social Housing 

Development Programme against the Housing Executive’s Strategic 

Guidelines. 

The House Sales Scheme provides an opportunity for tenants to buy their own 

home. Despite house prices becoming more affordable in recent years the 

31

number of our tenants availing of this scheme has dropped. During the past 

year there were 39 applications received; 22 offers made and six sales 

completed. 

We had planned to reach the Decent Homes Standard in all our properties 

by 2010 but were unable to achieve this target due to reduced funding. We 

believe that investment in our maintenance and improvement programmes is 

no less important than building new homes. Our five year Maintenance 

Investment Strategy (2011/16) key recommendations are as follows: 

• Strategic - to redefine the standard with a new target date of 2021; 

• Energy efficiency - to set targets to reduce dependence on solid fuel and 

improve thermal comfort for tenants; 

• Environmental – to reduce water usage, support our communities and 

develop biodiversity projects; 

• Investment priorities - to concentrate on programmes which will achieve 

optimum improvements in Decent Homes Standard. 

The Programme for Government 2011-2015 requires that the Housing 

Executive bring forward a strategy to improve the thermal efficiency of our 

housing stock, including a programme aimed at providing full double glazing 

by 2014/15. We had been working towards completing this work against a 

target date of 2021, but in order to achieve the earlier date, some of our 

other programmes may be affected, unless additional funding is secured. 

In Newry & Mourne in the past year we completed heating installations to 110 

Housing Executive homes. Details of our programmes can be found in 

Appendix 3. 

We provide Grants to private sector landlords and owner occupiers. This has 

helped to maintain the condition of properties and prevent them from falling 

into unfitness or serious disrepair. However, due to current funding restrictions, 

discretionary renovation, replacement and home repair assistance grants are 

only available in exceptional circumstances. Disabled facilities grants to 

adapt properties for disabled people in the private sector continue to be 

available. See Appendix 3 for details of grants performance during 2011/12. 

In the past year we completed: 

• 18 renovation grants; 

• 9 replacement grants; 

• 42 repair grants; 

• 94 disabled facilities grants; 

• 38 home repair assistance grants. 

32


Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) are an important part of the private 

rented sector. Within Newry & Mourne District, there were 105 properties 

identified by the Housing Executive as potential HMOs. Ongoing 

identification of potential HMOs and ensuring compliance with the HMO 

Statutory Registration Scheme, continues to present a significant challenge, 

as does the enforcement activity associated with the scheme where noncompliance 

exists. In the past year, six Article 80 Notices (fit for the number of 

occupants) and five Article 79 Notices (Management Regulations) were 

served, and there are now 31 Registered HMOs in Newry & Mourne District. A 

HMO Strategy has been developed to not only ensure compliance but also 

to provide advice to tenants and prospective tenants of HMOs such as 

students. 

Improving energy efficiency and helping to 

reduce fuel poverty remain key priorities for the 

Housing Executive. Our work as Home Energy 

Conservation Authority (HECA) for Northern 

Ireland has helped to improve energy 

efficiency across the residential sector by 21.4% 

from 1996 to 2009. 

Our current heating policy is to install efficient natural gas heating in our 

homes where available and oil elsewhere. We initiated a review of this policy 

in 2010 to ensure that it is still fit for purpose. Our proposed new policy will 

continue to show a preference for natural gas; however, in areas where gas 

is not available tenants will be offered a choice of oil heating or wood pellet 

boiler system. In these circumstances tenants will also be permitted to retain 

their open fire but without a back boiler. This will offer tenants a heat source if 

they run out of fuel. 

During 2011/12 we commenced 5,926 heating 

conversions and completed 4,020 heating 

conversions to Housing Executive Stock throughout 


A choice of energy suppliers in Northern Ireland is 

detailed in Appendix 8. 

We manage the Warm Homes Scheme which helps vulnerable households in 

the private sector to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and can 

help to alleviate fuel poverty. DSD intends to carry out a review into the 

Warm Homes Scheme with a view to introducing a new scheme in June 2012. 

In the year to March 2012: 

• 660 homes were insulated; 

33

• 8 homes had heating installations; 

• 14 homes had both insulation and heating installed. 

Despite substantial improvements in energy efficiency there has been an 

increase in the number of households in fuel poverty. Energy efficiency 

improvements alone cannot effectively tackle fuel poverty; it also requires 

action on fuel prices and low incomes. New legislation was passed in 2011 

permitting social landlords to broker discounted energy on behalf of tenants. 

The Housing Executive will provide information on various discounted 

electricity tariffs or offers available to existing, new and prospective Housing 

Executive tenants under the Energy Brokering Scheme. The decision on 

which tariff or supplier best suits their needs will remain with the tenant. 

An oil heating ‘pay as you go’ scheme has been developed with the DSD 

and is currently being piloted in 18 properties throughout Northern Ireland. 

We continue to fund Bryson Energy to provide energy efficiency awareness 

programme to schools. During 2011-12, 260 schools in Northern Ireland were 

visited, 13 of which were in the Newry & Mourne District. 

The Minister for Social Development has sought to bring back into use some 

of the many homes which are currently lying vacant in Northern Ireland. 

There is potential to do this but in a relatively limited number of cases. We 

have developed approaches to help bring empty homes back into use. We 

have started work in two pilot areas in Belfast and we will then establish 

appropriate actions required to return homes to use. 

In the coming year we plan to: 

• Commence 18 social housing schemes that will add 245 units of 

accommodation throughout the District; 

• Formulate a Social Housing Development Programme and manage 

delivery by housing associations; 

• Examine the potential to develop intermediate housing on surplus Housing 

Executive sites; 

• Assess the need for new social housing in the District. The current five year 

(2011-2016) housing need assessment indicates a need for a further 1,027 

units; 

• Provide DOE Planning with an annual housing need assessment; 

• Promote the private rented sector as a decent and affordable housing 

option; 

• Promote affordable home ownership through our House Sales scheme; 

34


• Continue to work with DSD and DOE to deliver developer contributions for 

affordable housing via the planning system; 

• Continue to explore opportunities presented by PPS 21 to develop social 

housing outside designated settlements; 

• Continue to work with DSD to examine a range of aspects of the Housing 

Selection Scheme; 

• Implement our Maintenance Investment Strategy; 

• Implement a double glazing programme in line with the Programme for 

Government 2011-2015; 

• Continue to promote good standards of housing design and practice 

across all tenures; 

• Work to improve energy efficiency, promote energy conservation and help 

to alleviate fuel poverty; 

• Commence heating installations to 430 Housing Executive properties 

(Appendix 3); 

• Commence 85 kitchen replacements (Appendix 3); 

• Commence external cyclical maintenance to 185 dwellings (Appendix 3); 

• Manage our social housing stock to minimise empty dwellings; 

• Implement an Empty Homes Strategy to bring empty homes back into use. 

3.3 Objective 2 - Supporting Independent Living 

Our aim is to help people live independent lives by developing services and 

housing solutions tailored to each person’s circumstance. A number of 

existing housing strategies are directed at vulnerable groups such as our new 

Homelessness Strategy 2012-17 and the Supporting People Strategy. This 

support to vulnerable groups is delivered through our Supporting People 

programme, Homeless services and our housing support and adaptation 

services. The Homelessness Strategy 2012-17 will aim to eliminate long term 

homelessness and rough sleeping across Northern Ireland by 2020. The 

Supporting People Strategy is under review and it is expected that this will 

take account of the Bamford Review, changing Homeless duties to 16 and 17 

year old homeless people as well as addressing the needs of people with a 

physical or sensory disability and older persons. 

In Newry & Mourne District in the past year: 

• We spent approximately £2.707 million providing assistance to vulnerable 

people through Supporting People services; 

35

• We received funding for 33 supported housing schemes in the Newry & 

Mourne District, providing services to a range of client groups. In addition, 

two floating support services were provided in the District; 

• We completed 38 adaptations to Housing Executive dwellings. 

There is now a greater need than ever to respond to homelessness in a 

coordinated multi agency approach and for each partner organisation to 

contribute their expertise and resources to promote social inclusion. As such, 

the Housing Executive has produced the Homelessness Strategy 2012-2017. 

The strategy has four strategic objectives; 

• To place homelessness prevention at the forefront of service delivery; 

• To reduce the length of time households and individuals experience 

homelessness by improving access to affordable housing; 

• To remove the need to sleep rough; 

• To improve services to vulnerable homeless households and individuals. 

The new integrated approach includes a range of initiatives from support 

services to prevent homelessness to the introduction of a private rented 

sector access scheme for Northern Ireland. An implementation plan for the 

strategy will now be developed and progress will be monitored by the DSD’s 

Promoting Social Inclusion Partnership. 

In 2011/12 within Newry & Mourne District: 

• 805 homeless applications were received; 

• 322 homeless applicants were assessed as Full Duty Applicants; 

• Advice booklets on homelessness have been made available for those 

living in rural parts of Newry & Mourne District. 

Providing home adaptations is an important means of helping people remain 

independent in their own home. Adaptations are not restricted to people 

living in Housing Executive homes. People in privately owned housing can 

have adaptations aided through the Grants scheme. Adaptations range 

from handrails and ramps to stair lifts, heating, showers and extensions. The 

number of adaptations that we are able to carry out will be subject to 

funding. 

During 2011/12 we approved 79 disabled facilities grants for the private 

sector and 94 were completed. Approximately £400k was spent on 

adaptations to our own stock. Details of this work can be found in Appendix 

3. The South Area has a budget of £2.179 million for Disabled Persons 

Adaptations (DPAs) to our stock for 2012/13 to help vulnerable households, 

however this budget cannot be broken down to district level. 

36


The Housing Executive published a series of reports in relation to Housing and 

older people. The housing support needs of people with dementia will be a 

future research requirement. 

We continue to liaise with Traveller organisations, members of the Traveller 

communities, district councils and statutory and voluntary organisations in 

relation to future schemes and policy issues to make progress on 

accommodation for Travellers families. Need has been identified for a 6 unit 

group housing scheme for Travellers in Newry & Mourne District. This will be 

developed at Father Cullen Park in Bessbrook. 

A Sustaining Tenancies Strategy has recently been produced and a number 

of pilot projects are underway. A pilot scheme has commenced in Newry 

District Office whereby all new Housing Executive tenants will undertake a 

‘Tenancy Support Needs Assessment’ and support will be delivered to help 

tenants sustain their tenancy. 

Our financial inclusion and debt prevention strategies are very important and 

help people cope with financial insecurity and avoid debt. We have 

introduced financial advice and counselling services to help our residents 

cope with difficult financial circumstances. 


• Continue to improve the quality of housing for people with disabilities in 

Newry & Mourne District; 

• Invest £2.706 million in delivering housing support services to vulnerable 

people through the Supporting People programme; 

• Work with relevant organisations to deliver services to those who 

experience homelessness in line with our Homelessness Strategy 2012-17; 

• Address the current and future housing support needs of older people; 

• Implement the Sustaining Tenancies Strategy; 

• Provide financial advice and counselling services for tenants as required; 

• Work to meet the accommodation needs of Travellers. 

3.4 Objective 3 - Building Stronger Communities 

Building stronger communities needs to take into consideration not only the 

physical nature of the environment but also community needs and to 

address particular aspects that may be contributing to deprivation and 

poverty in an area. 

37

Some of our physical regeneration activity has been curtailed by reduced 

public funding and housing market circumstances. We will assess the impact 

on our support of any changes arising from DSD’s review of its urban 

regeneration policy. 

A mid term review has been completed on the Neighbourhood Renewal 

strategy. The review reports that there should be a renewed 

acknowledgement that neighbourhood regeneration is a long term 

objective. Regeneration policies need to be linked with wider policies 

operating at a regional scale and Neighbourhood Action Plans should be 

reviewed to ensure they are fit for purpose. 

Housing Community Network Meeting 

The DSD has confirmed that funding for the Neighbourhood Renewal 

Partnership will continue to 2015. Over £5 million has already been invested 

within the past five years across the nine designated communities within the 

Newry City Neighbourhood Renewal Area. Planned schemes for 2012/13 

include a kick-about area in Parkhead Crescent and environmental 

improvements at Greater Linenhall Arch. Other planned schemes include 

the provision of community facilities at Derrybeg and an upgraded football 

pitch at St Josephs School. 

Our Rural Housing Homes and People Action Plan sets out the work we are 

doing to meet the needs of our rural communities. We publish a Progress 

Report on this each year and this year will review the Plan and propose 

38


revised actions to build on what has been achieved. Programmes to provide 

and improve housing and the environment help to sustain rural areas. 

Provision of decent homes can help to build confidence in rural communities 

and support schools, businesses and local community infrastructure. 

During 2011/12, 181 new units of social housing commenced across rural 

Northern Ireland, surpassing the annual rural target of 127 units. This is the 

third successive year that the rural share of the Social Housing Development 

Programme has increased. Schemes in Meigh, Hilltown and 

Newtowncloghogue completed during the year and schemes at 

Crossmaglen, Rostrevor and Longstone were on site at March 2012. During 

2011/12 we continued our latent test programme with surveys in Attical and 

Glassdrumman. Neither survey generated sufficient demand to include a 

scheme in the Social Housing Development Programme. 

In addition to these direct housing interventions, we also work with DARD and 

other rural agencies to promote and address rural issues. For example during 

the past year, we have: 

• Participated in the Steering Group overseeing the DARD/Public Health 

Agency initiative to improve access to services in rural areas. A further 

phase of this MARA (Maximising Access to Rural Areas) project was rolled 

out during 2011/12; 

• Provided training on rural proofing for staff in conjunction with the Rural 

Development Council; 

• Continued to link with rural community groups through our local Housing 

Community Network and through the regional Rural Residents Forum, 

administered by the Rural Community Network. 

In Newry & Mourne District we are supporting physical and community 

regeneration through a number of activities: 

• We continue to support community development through our funding and 

oversight of Supporting Communities Northern Ireland which provides 

funding to local community groups. Our work in Neighbourhood Renewal 

also involves working with local community groups who are supported with 

funding from the DSD for running costs and capacity building through the 

Confederation of Community Groups; 

• A fourth phase of redevelopment in Canal Street Urban Renewal Area, 

consisting of 10 dwellings is awaiting planning approval. This phase will 

complete our strategy for Canal Street; 

• We are continuing to work with Newry & Mourne District Council and other 

organisations on the Newry Low Carbon city initiative. Our ‘passiv haus’ 

pilot scheme at Loanda Crescent should be completed during 2012/13; 

39

• Construction of six new dwellings at Calmor View, Lislea is programmed to 

commence in 2012/13; 

• We will carry out a latent demand test at Dunavil during 2012/13; 

• We continue to work with the Forkhill Community Development group to 

develop overall proposals for the former MOD/PSNI site. Fold Housing 

Association are programmed to start work on a scheme for 10 dwellings 

during 2012/13. 

Community Safety is a quality of life issue which impacts on all of society. We 

have a range of legal powers to address the most serious forms of anti social 

behaviour (ASB). This allows us to contribute to the safety of our tenants and 

the communities in which they live. However, the majority of reports received 

in Newry are minor in nature and can be resolved through early intervention. 

In addition to providing district office services to address anti social behaviour 

we also work in partnership with a range of other agencies, particularly the 

PSNI and Newry & Mourne District Council. To facilitate closer working 

relationships with these partners we have an information sharing protocol in 

place which allows for the exchange of information on individuals to assist us 

in resolving cases of anti social behaviour. New partnership working 

arrangements are also in place with these partners for the provision of night 

time warden services in six locations across Northern Ireland. 

Dealing with community safety involves a balance of reactive and proactive 

action. We encourage all tenants to sign up to our Good Neighbour 

Agreement. It sets out key principles for tenants, which include: 

• Respect for all neighbours, irrespective of religion, race, colour, culture or 

religious belief; 

• Acceptance that everyone is different; 

• Tolerance of others’ lifestyles; 

• Accepting responsibility for the behaviour of your own children; 

• Respect for young and old alike; 

• Promotion of a positive community spirit. 

The number of reported incidents in 2011/12 represents a 5% increase on the 

previous year. Most reports relate to low level ASB including pets, gardens 

and noise, however, the number of serious/complex incidents has almost 

doubled. District Office staff are involved in a number of ways to help 

address ASB. 

40


Table 6: Newry District Office: ASB Performance 

No of ASB 

cases 

received 

No of 

properties 

repossessed 

No of 

injunctions 

No of cases 

referred to 

mediation 

No of 

ABC* 

agreed 

Cases resolved 

without legal 

action 

305 1 0 5 1 304 

*Acceptable Behaviour Contracts 

• The District Manager participates on the Community Safety Partnership 

and the Anti Social Behaviour sub group. The District Manager will 

participate in the new Policing and Community Safety Partnership; 

• The Newry District Office has two Neighbourhood Officers. The officers 

work directly with local communities on issues which affect their daily lives 

including illegal dumping, graffiti and ASB. The Neighbourhood Officer will 

also monitor and report on non occupation and misuse of houses. This has 

resulted in a number of houses being brought back into stock in the past 

year; 

• Staff in the Newry District Office continue to work with a range of agencies 

to develop diversionary initiatives to reduce ASB and the fear of crime; 

• We work with the Confederation of Community groups to promote the 

Good Morning and Good Neighbour service to older people in the District; 

• We have engaged with the PSNI to extend the Pointer Programme. The 

programme encourages young people to participate in youth clubs and 

take part in cleanups, graffiti removal etc. The objectives of the scheme 

include developing citizenship and leadership skills in young people and 

improving relationships between the PSNI and local communities; 

• Schemes are in place at Hilltown, Warrenpoint, Annalong and 

Crossmaglen to provide diversionary activities at Halloween to help reduce 

ASB; 

• We are a key partner in the Newry Data Hub which maps ASB throughout 

the District to allow agencies to respond on a collaborative basis to 

identified spots. 

The Housing Executive is committed to giving the community a voice. 

Following a review of the existing strategy, we have published the 

Community Involvement Transitional Strategy 2011-2013. 

The Strategy focuses on obtaining more feedback on the customer outcome 

of the service provided involving tenant scrutiny. Tenants will be closely 

involved in monitoring the delivery of our action plans and the Housing 

Community Network (HCN) will receive six monthly reports on progress. 

41

The Transitional Strategy will facilitate a review of the HCN taking into 

consideration HCN feedback on any future plans for organisational structural 

changes and the most effective service delivery model. 

Newry District has been involved in a pilot initiative to support new tenancies 

and sustain existing but vulnerable tenancies. Tenants are given advice on 

payment methods, benefit entitlement, financial assistance and floating 

support services. Information is also provided relating to other statutory and 

voluntary bodies that may be able to give support. 

The District Office continues to work with 22 local community groups and 

contributes to a wide range of partnerships and inter-agency groups. This 

year we have extended our inter agency inspections in Parkhead Crescent 

to include Mourneview Park. This has involved representatives from the 

Council, Roads Service, Street Lighting, PSNI and local community groups. 

The promotion of good relations in our estates is a key Housing Executive 

priority. 

We await the final publication of the Northern Ireland Executive’s Cohesion, 

Sharing and Integration Policy to direct delivery of an equal, shared and 

better society on the ground, but in the meantime, we deliver our Good 

Relations Strategy across five main themes of: 

• Residential Segregation/Integration; 

• Race Relations; 

• Flags, Emblems and Sectional Symbols; 

• Interfaces; 

• Communities in Transition. 

The Shared Neighbourhood Programme was 

delivered by the Housing Executive over the past 

three years and was funded by the International 

Fund for Ireland. This pilot programme aimed to 

secure and protect 30 shared neighbourhoods 

across Northern Ireland, to support estates where 

people choose to live with others regardless of 

their religion or race. 

This pilot completed in 2011 and following the success of this scheme DSD 

and the Housing Executive agreed to mainstream the scheme under the new 

Shared Communities Programme. Work on this started in November 2011 and 

will be delivered over a three year period in a further 20 new estates across 


42


We continue to work with housing associations to identify new build schemes 

as shared schemes where prospective residents sign up to a set of shared 

principles. 

Subsequent to the Shared Neighbourhood Programme, the Housing 

Executive has formed a partnership with Tides Training and the Rural 

Development Council. This aims to deliver a project that will develop the 

administrative effectiveness of the Housing Executive as well as delivering 

good relations programmes across a further 80 Housing Executive estates. 

This project, known as Building Relationships in Communities (BRIC), will be 

rolled out over the next three and a half years, and is designed to put Good 

Relations at the heart of our policy and service delivery functions. The three 

central policy themes of the project are Changing Minds, Sharing Visions and 

Crossing Borders. 

The aim of our Race Relations policy is to ensure full and fair access to 

housing services and employment opportunities in the Housing Executive for 

everyone in our community and to promote good relations between and 

within ethnic groups and communities. We continue to work with black and 

minority ethnic (BME) communities to promote of equality of opportunity. 

We continue to operate a weekly housing and support clinic for the BME 

population in Newry. The clinic is staffed by a multi-lingual employee of 

Newry & Mourne District Council and has dealt with approximately 500 

queries in the past year. 

Together with the PSNI we have been delivering the HIPA (Hate Incident 

Practical Action) scheme through our District Offices since 2007. The scheme 

provides personal and home protection measures if a home has been 

damaged or a household member has been a victim where the motivation is 

racist, sexual, disability, sectarian or faith related. It is available to owner 

occupiers and tenants in privately rented and Housing Executive properties. 

Our District Manager is a member of the Newry Good Relations Forum and 

the Newry Greater Vision Partnership. He has also completed the 

Communities and Policing in Transition (CAPT) programme which is funded 

through the European Regional Development Fund. This facilitates structured 

and meaningful engagement between communities and police on a local, 

cross community and cross border basis. This helps to develop a safer and 

more peaceful society. 

The Housing Executive is a member of the Southern Group Cluster set up to 

deliver Priority 1.1 and 1.2 of the Peace III Programme (2007-2013) - Building 

Positive Relations at a local level. The aim of these themes is to challenge 

43

attitudes towards sectarianism and to support conflict resolution and 

mediation at the local community level. 

The quality of housing has direct links to people’s quality of life. Our Housing 

and Health Strategy and Action Plan involve us in work with a range of health 

bodies through initiatives such as the Investing for Health Partnerships and our 

Supporting People Programme. 


• Put Good Relations at the heart of our service delivery to customers; 

• Ensure the effective use of our neighbourhood officer through working with 

local communities; 

• Continue to encourage local groups in developing activities that support 

their community; 

• Continue to participate in the Community Safety Partnership in addressing 

ASB across the District; 

• Strengthen the work with the community groups involved in the Housing 

Community Network; 

• Deliver the Shared Communities Programme; 

• Participate in the Peace III Programme for the benefit of the local 

communities; 

• Work in partnership with the statutory, community and voluntary sectors in 

developing and delivering improved community safety at estate level; 

• Encourage tenants to sign up to our Good Neighbour Agreement; 

• Continue to implement the race relations action plan; 

• Implement the Rural Housing Strategy – ‘Rural Homes and People’; 

• Monitor and report regularly on our contribution to the Northern Ireland 

Sustainable Development Strategy; 

• Support initiatives to develop sustainable local communities; 

• Offer environmental and sustainability advice to business, community and 

voluntary sector stakeholder organisations. 

44


3.5 Objective 4 - Delivering Quality Services 

We aim to deliver services that meet the needs of our customers, whilst 

ensuring that we achieve value for money. We continually strive to improve 

the quality and efficiency of our services. 

To understand our customers’ needs we use techniques such as customer 

surveys while also comparing the quality and efficiency of our services with 

other organisations. The following processes identify areas for improvement: 

• The Continuous Tenant Omnibus Survey (CTOS) provides a comprehensive 

socio-economic profile of Housing Executive tenants and their views and 

attitudes to service provision. The CTOS informs and assesses compliance 

with a range of legislation and government policies including those 

relating to equality, modernising services, targeting social need and 

tackling ASB; 

• We accredit the performance of our services through a number of 

frameworks such as Customer Service Excellence, external validation from 

the European Foundation for Quality Manager; Investors in People; and we 

hold a number of ISO 9001 accreditations; 

• We operate a two-stage Complaints Scheme for our customers. Our 

complaints system has been a valuable resource in measuring how well we 

deliver our services and helping us to make improvements; 

• Over the past number of years we have radically changed the ways in 

which we deliver services through our Modernising Services Programme; 

• We are continuing to work on service improvement using techniques such 

as ‘LEAN’ and better use of information and communications technology; 

• Our Learning and Development Strategy is designed to ensure that our 

staff are properly trained and have the skills, knowledge and experience to 

deliver to the best of their ability. In addition we have been working to 

ensure that staff absence is minimised; 

• During 2011/12 we introduced a new Housing Management System (HMS) 

to replace PRAWL. 

The South Customer Service Unit delivers a repair and grounds maintenance 

reporting service for customers in Newry & Mourne District. The Unit also 

provides a telephony service to facilitate the processing of housing and 

transfer applications and arrange appointments for domiciliary visits. Housing 

Benefit and Rent Accounting Units in the Area Office are now responsible for 

the administration of these functions for Newry & Mourne District. 

Following the severe weather during December 2010, we have reviewed and 

revised our internal emergency procedures and those of our Contractors to 

45

ensure we are able to react promptly. Advice for customers facing an 

emergency is available on our website. Our Emergency Services Unit will 

continue to provide an out of hours service and will be supported by 

Customer Service Units and district staff in a wide scale emergency situation. 

Our website will provide customers with reporting facilities, and an update 

regarding the specific emergency declared. 

Our targets and performance for the South Area are set out below. 

Table 7: Performance at March 2012 

Target 

Actual 

Total Rent Arrears South Area £886k £974k 

Clear Housing Benefit new claims 

South HB Unit 

Clear Housing Benefit change of 

circumstances South HB Unit 

Within 25 days 

Within 10 days 

24.4 days 

3.7 days 

Newry District Office continues to provide key services such as housing, 

homelessness, response maintenance, estate management, community 

development and partnerships. Locally we: 

• Aim to process at least 90% of housing applications within 20 working days; 

• Aim to process 95% of emergency, urgent and routine repairs within the 

agreed time scales of 24 hours, four days and four weeks respectively; 

• Provide tenants with an annual publication of Housing News which 

highlights local projects and performance. 

• Operate sub offices in Kilkeel and Crossmaglen to meet the needs of rural 

customers. 

Table 8: Newry District Office Performance at March 2012 

Target 

Actual 

Housing Applications 90% 85% 

Homeless Applications 95% 98% 

Maintenance 

Emergency >95% 99% 

Urgent >95% 98% 

Routine >95% 98% 

COT >90% 98% 

Relet turnaround time 26 days 39 days 

Voids 20 24 

46



• Provide tenants with an annual publication of Housing News; 

• Provide grant applicants with copies of our Grants Newsletter; 

• Provide high quality and responsive services to all customers; 

• Manage services in a cost effective manner; 

• Continue to improve services through the modernising services programme 

and information technology; 

• Develop and implement a learning and development strategy to underpin 

the investment in our staff; 

• Implement a Manpower plan; 

• Maintain an excellent, well-trained and highly motivated workforce. 

47


Appendix 1 Newry City profile 

Map 2: Newry City 

Source: NIHE GIS 

Newry City comprises the nine common landlord areas of Ashtree, Armagh 

Road, Carnbane, Carrivemaclone, Courtney Mill/Boat Street area, Daisy Hill, 

North Street, Rooneys Meadow and Shandon. 

At April 2012, there were 430 applicants in housing stress of which 43% were 

singles and 33% were small families. In the year to March 2012 there were 141 

allocations with singles receiving 40% of these. The five year projected 

housing need assessment for Newry City 2011-16 was 526 units. 

A large number of Housing Executive dwellings (3,040) have been sold in 

Newry City. At March 2012 there were 1,308 dwellings remaining. 

49

Newry City social housing waiting list analysis 

1050 

900 

750 

600 

450 

300 

150 

0 

774 

485 

Housing applicants and allocations 

(2007–2012) 

849 839 862 

515 

61 107 

478 458 

147 

Dec 2007 Dec 2008 Dec 2009 Dec 2010 Mar/Apr 2012 

Applicants HS Applicants Allocations 

140 

739 

430 

141 

500 

Application and allocation household groups (March/April 2012) 

400 

300 

317 

245 

200 

187 

141 

100 

0 

56 

34 

24 

3 

54 

8 

4 

1 

66 69 

42 

18 32 

9 

Single Persons Small Adult Small Family Large Adult Large Family Older Persons 

Applicants HS Applicants Allocations 

NB: Applicants and HS Applicant figures are as at April 2012 and Allocations are at March 2012 

NIHE Housing stock analysis 

Current and sold stock 

(March 2012) 

3,027 3,030 

3100 

3,033 3,035 3,040 

2600 

2100 

1600 

1100 

1,356 1,323 

1,314 1,313 1,308 

600 

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 

Available 

Sold 

3000 

2500 

2000 

1500 

1000 

500 

0 

Stock by property type 

(March 2012) 

Available 2,631 

Sold 

739 

255 

224 182 

110 

88 113 2 4 

Bung Flat House Mais Cott 

50


Appendix 2 

Social Housing Development Programme 

Schemes Completed April 2011 – March 2012 

Scheme 

Newry City, Fifth 

Avenue, Rear of 

Derrybeg Villas 

Newry City, The 

Demesne, Carnagat 

Ph 1 

Newry City, The 


Ph 2 

Newry City, Ravens 

Glen, Chancellors 

Road 

Newry City, Derrybeg 

Small Sites 

Newry City, Greenfield 

Park 

Newry City, Martins 

Lane 

No of 

units 

2 

20 

Client Group 

General needs 

General needs 


association 

Apex Housing 

South Ulster 

Policy theme 

Urban need 

Urban need 

20 General needs South Ulster Urban need 

13 General needs South Ulster Urban need 

11 General needs Trinity Urban need 

2 General needs Trinity Urban need 

6 General needs Apex Housing Urban need 

Kilkeel, Moor Road 7 General needs South Ulster Urban need 

Hilltown, Ardmore 

Drive 

Meigh, Gullion View 

Ph 3 

Newtowncloghogue, 

Parkview 

Total 121 

8 General needs Ulidia Rural need 

10 General needs Oaklee Rural need 

22 General needs Helm Housing Rural need 

51

Schemes on site at 31 st March 2012 

Scheme 

No of 

units 

Client Group 


association 

Policy theme 

Newry City, The 12 General needs South Ulster Urban need 


Ph 3 

Newry City, Springhill 6 General needs Ulidia Urban need 

Drive 

Crossmaglen, 1 General needs Fold Rural need 

Rathkeelan Park 

Warrenpoint, Burren 12 General needs South Ulster Urban need 

Road 

Longstone, Longstone 6 General needs Oaklee Rural need 

Road 

Rostrevor, Newtown 2 General needs Helm Housing Rural need 

Villas 

Total 39 

New Build schemes programmed 2012 - 2015 

Scheme 

Newry City, Cathedral 

View 

Newry City, Canal 

Street 

Newry City, Murphy 

Cres (Win Business 

Park) 

Newry City, Killin 

Street 

Newry City, 

Tandragee Road 

(Roads Service Site) 

Newry City, Pound 

Road/Monaghan 

Street 


Drumalane Road 

No of 

units 

Client Group 

2 General 

needs 

10 General 

needs 

18 General 

needs 

36 General 

needs 

12 General 

needs 

22 General 

needs 

15 General 

needs 

Year 


association 

Policy theme 

12/13 South Ulster Urban need 



12/13 Ulidia Urban need 

12/13 Trinity Urban need 

13/14 Clanmil Urban need 


52


New Build schemes programmed 2012 – 2015 (continued) 

Scheme 

Newry City, 79-81 

Drumalane Road 

Newry City, Corrys 

Square 

Newry City, Dominic 

Street 

Newry City, 31 Old 

Warrenpoint Road 

Newry City, 15 Old 

Warrenpoint Road 

Newry City, Carnagat 

Road 


Monaghan Street 


Connaught House 

Newry City, Young 

People – Care 

Leavers 

No of 

units 

Client Group 

34 General 

needs 

18 General 

needs 

12 General 

needs 

10 General 

needs 

22 General 

needs 

10 General 

needs 

10 Physical 

Disability 

3 Mental 

Health 

6 Young 

People 

Leaving 

Care 

Crossmaglen, Ph 5 10 General 

needs 

Kilkeel, Newry Street 

(Former Hospital Site) 

Kilkeel, Newry Street 

(Former Hospital Site) 

Warrenpoint, Upper 

Dromore Road 

Warrenpoint, Lower 

Dromore Road 

Bessbrook, Fr Cullen 

Park 

Bessbrook, Fr Cullen 

Park 

8 General 

needs 

Year 


association 

Policy theme 







12/13 Clanmil Supported 

12/13 Trinity Supported 

12/13 Oaklee Supported 

14/15 To be 

confirmed 

Rural need 


12 Frail Elderly 12/13 Trinity Supported 

20 General 

needs 

34 General 

needs 



6 Travellers 12/13 Clanmil Travellers 

56 General 

needs 

12/13 Clanmil Rural need 

53

New Build schemes programmed 2012 – 2015 (continued) 

Scheme 

Camlough, Calmor 

View 

Camlough, Quarter 

Road 

Forkhill, School Road 

(MOD/PSNI Site) 

Mullaghbawn, 

Tullymacreevie Road 

Rostrevor, 

Warrenpoint Rd Ph 1 

Culloville, St Bridgets 

Park 

No of 

units 

Total 452 

Client Group 

6 General 

needs 

20 General 

needs 

10 General 

needs 

8 General 

needs 

18 General 

needs 

4 General 

needs 

Year 


association 

Policy theme 

12/13 Trinity Rural need 

13/14 Apex 


Rural need 

12/13 Fold Rural need 

12/13 Apex 


Rural need 

12/13 Ulidia Rural need 

12/13 Triangle Rural need 

54


Appendix 3 

Maintenance and Grants Information 

Schemes completed 1 st April 2011 – 31 st March 2012 

Work Category Scheme Units 

External Cyclical 

Maintenance 

Revenue Replacement 

Heating Installation 

Newry, Hennessy Park, Loanda Crescent, 

Altmore Gardens, Ardgreen Drive, 

Drumalane Park, O’Neill Avenue, Boat 

Street, etc 

Newry, Barcroft Park, Dominic Street, 

Cleary Crescent, Dominican Court, 

Thomas Street, Greenfield Park, Cowan 

Street, etc 

Newry, Armagh Road, Daisy Hill, John 

Martin Street, Quayside Close, Clanrye 

Avenue/ Park, Killeavey Road, etc 

Newry, Mourne View Park, Murphy 

Crescent, College Gardens, Violet Hill 

Avenue, Barcroft Park 

Newry, Daisy Hill 

251 

264 

370 

106 

110 

Schemes on-site at 31 st March 2012 


Kitchen Improvement 

Window Replacement 

Fire Doors 

Newry, Shandon Park, Bessbrook, 

Camlough Park, Church Road, 

O’Donoghue Park, Meigh, St Moninna 

Park 

Newry, Springfarm Heights, Priory 

Crescent/ Kilkeel, Harbour Road/ 

Bessbrook, Church Road, The Gardens, 

Cloughreagh Park, John F Kennedy Park/ 

Crossmaglen, Ard Ross 

Replacement of fire doors to flats with 

communal access 

34 

138 

218 

55

Programme of work for 2012/13 


External Cyclical 

Maintenance 

Window Replacement 

Revenue Replacement 

Heating Installation 

Newry, Hill Cresc, Shandon Pk, Springhill 

Drive, John Mitchell Street/ Silverbridge, 

Daly Park, Moylinn Close/ Cullaville, Fane 

Grove, Malachy Conlon Park/ Belleek/ 

Whitecross 

Annalong, Derryhea Park, Kilhorn Green/ 

Kilkeel, Finlieve Place/ Bessbrook, 

Brookville Crescent, Camlough Park, 

Clogharevan Park, Riverside Crescent Fr 

Cullen Park/ Forkhill/ Silverbridge 

Newry, Derrybeg Drive, Iveagh Crescent, 

Killeavey Road, Orior Road, Fifth Avenue, 

Main Avenue, Second Avenue 

Warrenpoint, Carnmeen Park, Clermont 

Gardens, Drumlin Walk, Drumsesk Place, 

Forth Avenue, Lower Dromore Road, 

Mourne Drive, Orchard Hill, Parkside, 

Rathcuain 

Attical/Ballymartin/Bessbrook/ 

Mayobridge/Burren/Hilltown 

Newry, Ardmore Road, Shandon Park, 

Lower Water Street, Marcus Street, 

Cathedral View, Lindsay Walk, Clare 

House, Greenfield Park, Cowan Street, 

James Street, John Mitchel Street, High 

Street, St Clares Avenue, 

Newry, Ballinlare Gardens, Clanrye 

Avenue, Derrybeg Drive, Iveagh Crescent, 

Killeavey Road, Orior Road, Slieve Gullion 

Road 

185 

158 

85 

116 

98 

138 

78 

Reserve programme for April 2012 – March 2013 subject to funding 


Revenue Replacement Warrenpoint, Carnmeen Park, Clonallan 115 

Gardens, Drumlin Walk, Drumsesk Place, 

Lower Dromore Road, Rossmara Park/ 

Rostrevor, St Ritas Park, 

56


Analysis of adaptations to Housing Executive stock 2011/12 

Type of adaptation 

Adaptations commenced Adaptations spend April 

April 2011 to March 2012 2011 to March 2012 (£) 

Extension to dwelling 7 207,071 

Change of heating 21 166,964 

Lifts 3 10,055 

Showers 7 15,865 

Total 38 399,955 

Grants performance 

Grant Type 

No Approved 

Approval Value 

(£) 

No Completed 

MANDATORY GRANTS 

Disabled Facilities 79 815,875 94 

Repairs 42 72,686 42 

DISCRETIONARY GRANTS 

Renovation 7 102,197 18 

Replacement

Appendix 4 

Social Housing Need Assessment (HNA) 

2011-2016 

Settlement 

5 Year Projected Social Housing Need 

Main Urban Centre 

Newry City 526 

Local Towns 

Crossmaglen 60 

Kilkeel 8 

Newtownhamilton 4 

Warrenpoint 120 

Villages 

Annalong/Longstone/Glassdrumman 10 

Attical 2 

Ballymartin 3 

Bessbrook/Derramore 100 

Burren 3 

Camlough 40 

Cullyhanna 3 

Forkhill 20 

Hilltown 12 

Jonesborough 6 

Mayobridge 15 

Meigh 5 

Mullaghbawn 15 

Rostrevor/Killowen 30 

The Commons/Ballyholland 10 

Small Settlements 

Belleek 1 

Creggan 4 

Culloville 6 

58


Settlement 

5 Year Projected Social Housing Need 

Small Settlements ctd 

Drumintee 2 

Granite View 2 

Greencastle/Ballyardle/Dunnaman 0 

Killeen 3 

Lurganare/Barnmeen 1 

Mullaghglass 0 

Newtowncloghogue 8 

Silverbridge 6 

Whitecross 2 

Total 1,027 

59

Appendix 5 

Common 

Landlord Area 

Household composition of housing 

applicants at 2012 

Type 

Single 

person 

Small 

Adult 

Small 

Family 

Large 

Adult 

Large 

Family 

Older 

Person 

Total 

Main Town 

Applicant 317 34 245 8 66 69 739 

Newry City App (HS) 187 24 141 4 42 32 430 

Allocation 56 3 54 1 18 9 141 

Local Towns 

Applicant 47 4 11 0 5 12 79 

Crossmaglen App (HS) 27 2 5 0 4 5 43 

Allocation 6 3 3 0 0 1 13 

Kilkeel Applicant 27 3 24 0 3 11 68 

App (HS) 15 1 8 0 1 2 27 

Allocation 10 1 7 0 0 3 21 

Newtown- 

Hamilton 

Applicant 6 2 4 0 1 3 16 

App (HS) 4 1 3 0 1 1 10 

Allocation 5 0 0 1 0 2 8 

Warrenpoint Applicant 73 5 46 2 16 30 172 

App (HS) 51 4 26 2 11 17 111 

Allocation 8 0 8 0 0 2 18 

Villages 

Annalong/ 

Longstone/ 

Glassdrumman 

Applicant 9 2 6 0 2 1 20 

App (HS) 5 1 2 0 0 1 9 


Attical Applicant 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 

App (HS) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 


Ballymartin Applicant 4 0 1 0 0 1 6 

App (HS) 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 


Bessbrook/ 

Derramore 

Applicant 52 4 38 0 12 7 113 

App (HS) 34 3 21 0 8 6 72 

Allocation 4 0 6 0 2 1 13 

Burren Applicant 0 0 6 0 3 0 9 

App (HS) 0 0 3 0 3 0 6 


Camlough Applicant 22 0 14 0 4 6 46 

App (HS) 16 0 9 0 2 4 31 


Cullyhanna Applicant 5 1 3 0 1 0 10 

App (HS) 3 1 2 0 0 0 6 


60


Household Composition of Housing Applicants at 2012 ctd. 

Common 


Type 

Single 

person 

Small 

Adult 

Small 

Family 

Large 

Adult 

Large 

Family 

Older 

Person 

Total 

Villages ctd 

Forkhill Applicant 14 1 7 0 1 3 26 

App (HS) 11 1 2 0 0 2 16 


Hilltown Applicant 15 0 13 0 0 4 32 

App (HS) 9 0 4 0 0 1 14 


Jonesborough Applicant 3 0 5 0 1 0 9 

App (HS) 2 0 3 0 0 0 5 


Mayobridge Applicant 11 2 9 0 1 4 27 

App (HS) 8 1 5 0 1 1 16 


Meigh Applicant 5 2 8 0 4 5 24 

App (HS) 3 1 6 0 4 3 17 


Mullagh- 

Bawn 

Applicant 14 1 7 0 6 3 31 

App (HS) 8 1 3 0 4 2 18 


Rostrevor Applicant 25 5 10 0 2 13 55 

App (HS) 17 2 4 0 1 7 31 


Small Settlements 

Belleek Applicant 2 0 2 0 0 0 4 

App (HS) 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 


Creggan Applicant 4 0 0 0 2 0 6 

App (HS) 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 


Culloville Applicant 1 1 2 0 0 1 5 

App (HS) 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 


Drumintee Applicant 1 0 1 0 1 0 3 

App (HS) 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 


Granite View Applicant 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 

App (HS) 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 


Greencastle/ 

Ballyardle/ 

Dunnaman 

Applicant 8 0 7 0 0 1 16 

App (HS) 6 0 2 0 0 0 8 


61

Household Composition of Housing Applicants at 2012 ctd. 

Common 


Type 

Single 

person 

Small 

Adult 

Small 

Family 

Large 

Adult 

Large 

Family 

Older 

Person 

Total 

Small Settlements ctd 

Killeen Applicant 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 

App (HS) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 


Lurganare/ 

Barnmeen 

Applicant 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 

App (HS) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 


Mullaghglass Applicant 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 

App (HS) 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 


Newtown- 

Cloghogue 

Applicant 8 2 17 0 3 2 32 

App (HS) 5 2 10 0 2 2 21 

Allocation 2 0 16 0 4 1 23 

Silverbridge Applicant 7 0 1 0 0 0 8 

App (HS) 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 


The 

Commons/ 

Ballyholland 

Applicant 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 

App (HS) 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 


Whitecross Applicant 2 0 2 0 1 0 5 

App (HS) 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 


DISTRICT 

TOTAL 

Applicant 688 70 493 10 136 179 1,576 

App (HS) 424 45 266 6 86 87 914 

Allocation 112 10 112 2 31 28 295 

Applicant – Housing Applicants at April 2012 

App (HS) – Housing Stress Applicants at April 2012 (i.e. 30 points or more) 

Allocation – Annual Allocations for year ending March 2012 

Definition of Household composition of housing applicants at April 2012 

Definition of Household Types 

Single person 1 person 16-59 years old 

Older person 1 or 2 persons aged 16 or over, at least 1 over 60 

Small adult 

2 persons 16-59 years old 

Small family 

1 or 2 persons aged 16 or over, with 1 or 2 children 

1 or 2 persons aged 16 or over, and 3 or more persons 0-15, 

Large family 

or 3 or more persons 16 or over and 2 or more persons aged 

0-15 

Large adult 

3 or more persons aged 16 or over with or without 1 person 

aged 0-15 

62


Appendix 6 

Common 


Housing Executive stock at March 2012 

Bung 

(i) 

Flat House Mais 

(ii) 

Cottage Total Void* 

NB: Sold Stock in bold 

Newry City 224 255 739 88 2 1,308 

182 110 2,631 113 4 3,040 

LOCAL TOWNS 

Crossmaglen 57 0 48 0 0 105 

30 0 245 0 2 277 

Kilkeel 62 26 101 0 0 189 

12 19 282 0 2 315 

Newtown- 

55 0 45 0 0 100 

Hamilton 

28 0 92 0 0 120 

Warrenpoint 60 70 133 18 0 281 

30 34 459 31 0 554 

VILLAGES 

Annalong/ 

27 0 63 0 0 90 

Longstone/ 

Glassdrumman 

81 0 90 0 30 201 

Attical 4 0 2 0 0 6 

20 0 6 0 0 26 

Ballymartin 14 0 9 0 2 25 

40 0 20 0 14 74 

Bessbrook/ 

121 2 180 0 0 303 

Derramore 

158 3 529 0 2 692 

Burren 12 0 2 0 0 14 

21 0 45 0 2 68 

Camlough 37 0 25 0 0 62 

32 0 144 0 1 177 

Cullyhanna 6 0 9 0 0 15 

10 0 56 0 0 66 

Forkhill 13 0 7 0 0 20 

14 0 53 0 2 69 

Hilltown 29 0 18 0 0 47 

115 0 93 0 4 212 

Jonesborough 8 0 6 0 0 14 

53 0 20 0 0 73 

Mayobridge 9 0 9 0 0 18 

14 0 93 0 3 110 

Meigh 16 0 9 0 0 25 

20 0 99 0 0 119 

Mullaghbawn 28 0 16 0 0 44 

15 0 105 0 1 121 

Rostrevor/ 

32 1 28 0 2 63 

Killowen 

92 3 124 0 27 246 

12 

1 

1 

1 

5 

0 

0 

0 

2 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

1 

0 

0 

0 

0 

63

Common 


Bung 

(i) 

Flat House Mais 

(ii) 

Cottage Total Void* 

The 

Commons/ 

Ballyholland 

6 

17 

0 

0 

8 

91 

0 

0 

0 

0 

14 

108 

SMALL SETTLEMENTS 

Belleek 7 0 8 0 0 15 

4 0 35 0 0 39 

Creggan 11 0 6 0 0 17 

36 0 45 0 0 81 

Culloville 8 0 4 0 0 12 

6 0 62 0 1 69 

Drumintee 5 0 10 0 0 15 

18 0 57 0 0 75 

Granite View 8 0 8 0 1 17 

16 0 44 0 17 77 

Greencastle/ 85 0 41 0 0 126 

Ballyardle/ 

Dunnaman 

199 0 62 0 19 280 

Kileen 4 0 6 0 0 10 

2 0 19 0 1 22 

Lurganare/ 

16 0 12 0 0 28 

Barnmeen 

44 0 97 0 17 158 

Mullaghglass 29 0 18 0 0 47 

30 0 106 0 8 144 

Newtowncloghogue 

3 0 4 0 0 7 

9 0 108 0 0 117 

Silverbridge 12 0 8 0 0 20 

12 0 60 0 3 75 

Whitecross 11 0 7 0 0 18 

14 0 51 0 0 65 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

DISTRICT TOTAL 1,019 354 1,589 106 7 3,075 

1,374 169 6,023 144 160 7,870 

*Of the Total Stock these properties are void and do not include properties for sale or demolition 

(i) Bungalow (ii) Maisonette 

24 

64


Appendix 7 


Association 

Housing Association stock at March 2012 

Settlement Policy Theme No. of Units 

Alpha Newry City Supported 35 

Clanmil Newry City General Needs 24 

Clanmil Newry City Supported 1 

Fold Newry City General Needs 40 

Fold Newry City Supported 37 

Gosford Newry City General Needs 16 

Habinteg Newry City General Needs 70 

Habinteg Newry City Supported 13 

Helm Newry City General Needs 13 

Helm Newry City Supported 16 

Oaklee Newry City General Needs 28 

Rural Newry City General Needs 27 

South Ulster Newry City General Needs 69 

South Ulster Newry City Supported 6 

Trinity Newry City Supported 2 

Ulidia Newry City General Needs 19 

Ulidia Newry City Supported 1 

Fold Crossmaglen General Needs 63 

Fold Crossmaglen Supported 26 

Clanmil Kilkeel General Needs 8 

Oaklee Kilkeel General Needs 7 

Oaklee Kilkeel Supported 33 

Fold Newtownhamilton General Needs 1 

Fold Newtownhamilton Supported 12 

Oaklee Warrenpoint General Needs 12 

Oaklee Warrenpoint Supported 41 

Ulidia Warrenpoint General Needs 65 

Ulidia Warrenpoint Supported 2 

Ulidia Annalong General Needs 8 

65

Housing Association stock at March 2012 continued 


Association 

Settlement Policy Theme No. of Units 

Gosford Bessbrook General Needs 14 

Helm Bessbrook General Needs 14 

South Ulster Bessbrook General Needs 26 

Rural Cullyhanna General Needs 9 

Rural Forkhill General Needs 5 

Ulidia Hilltown General Needs 16 

Rural Mayobridge General Needs 8 

Fold Mullaghbawn Supported 12 

Oaklee Rostrevor Supported 41 

Rural Culloville General Needs 1 

841 

66


Appendix 8 

Office 

Contact details 

Contact 

Contact Information 

All enquiries Tel: 03448 920 900 

Headquarters General Enquiries Fax No. 028 9031 8008 

Housing Centre 

www.nihe.gov.uk 


Belfast, BT2 8PB 

Newry District Office Mr Jim Bagnall Fax No. 028 38310 852 

35 -45 Boat Street District Manager newrydistrict@nihe.gov.uk 

Newry 

BT34 2DB 

South Area Office 

Marlborough House 

Central Way 

Craigavon 

BT64 1AJ 

Mrs Lorraine Campbell 

Area Manager 

Mr Chris Cunningham 

Area Planner 

Fax No. 028 3834 1264 

southarea@nihe.gov.uk 

Fax No. 028 38343977 

chris.cunningham@nihe.gov.uk 

Mr Dermot Dummigan 

Programme Manager 

Mrs Christine Marks 

Customer Service Unit 

Manager 

Mr Gervase McGuigan 

Land and Property 

Manager 

Mr Paul Hughes 

Service Unit Manager – 

Housing Benefit 

Fax No: 028 38341 264 

Dermot.dummigan@nihe.gov.uk 

Fax No. 028 38341 264 

christine.marks@nihe.gov.uk 

Fax No. 028 38 341 264 

gervase.mcguigan@nihe.gov.uk 

Fax No. 028 38341 264 

paul.hughes@nihe.gov.uk 

Mr Paul Ahern 

HMO Manager (Acting 

Fax No. 028 3831 5736 

hmo.craigavon@nihe.gov.uk 

Grants Office Mr Malcolm McKeown Fax No. 028 7130 6133 

35-45 Boat Street Grants Manager newrygrants@nihe.gov.uk 

Newry BT34 2DB 

Information Officer Mr Bill McGrath Fax No: 028 90248464 

32-36 Great Victoria Information Officer bill.mcgrath@nihe.gov.uk 

Street, Belfast, BT2 7BN 

Rural Housing Unit Mr Michael Conway Fax No. 028 9031 8775 

Housing Centre Rural Housing Co- michael.conway@nihe.gov.uk 

2 Adelaide Street ordinator 


67

Office 

Contact 


Supporting People Mrs Sharon Haughey Fax No. 028 9031 8391 

3 rd Floor Housing Centre South Area Lead Officer supportingpeople@nihe.gov.uk 



Office 


During Business Hours: 

Housing Benefit Tel No. 03448 920 902 

Repairs Line Tel No. 03448 920 901 

Grants Tel No. 03448 920 900 

After hours emergency phone number: 

Repairs Line Tel No. 03448 920 901 

Homelessness Tel No. 028 9446 8833 

Text Relay - General enquiries: Text No. 18001 03448 920 900 

Text Relay - Repairs Line Text No. 18001 03448 920 901 

Text Relay – Housing Benefit Text No. 18001 03448 920 902 

Energy Saving Trust Advice Centre 

Free Phone 

Tel No. 0800 512012 

NIFHA (Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Tel No. 028 9023 0446 

Associations) 

www.nifha.org 

DSD: Housing Operations Branch Tel No. 028 9081 9147 

www.dsdni.gov.uk 

Warm Homes 

Free Phone 

Tel No. 0800 9880559 

Detailed information on the work of housing associations can be obtained 

from the websites of the DSD (www.dsdni.gov.uk ) and the Northern Ireland 

Federation of Housing Associations, the trade body for housing associations in 

Northern Ireland (www.nifha.org ). 

Choice of Energy Supplier in Northern Ireland 

Households in Northern Ireland now have a choice of energy suppliers. There 

are four companies offering to supply electricity – Power NI www.powerni.co.uk 

, Airtricity www.airtricity.com , Electric Ireland www.electricireland.com and 

Budget Energy www.budgetenergy.co.uk . 

In relation to natural gas there are two suppliers, Phoenix Natural Gas 

www.phoenixgroupni.com and Firmus Energy www.firmusenergy.co.uk . There 

are over two hundred individual supply companies for home heating oil and 

a number of oil price comparison websites to help you find the best price. 

Examples include www.oilpricecheck.co.uk and www.cheapestoil.co.uk . 

68


Appendix 9 

Useful Documents 

Housing News 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/newry_housing_news_2011.pdf 

Housing Executive Grants Newsletter 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/south_grants_newsletter_2011.pdf 

Northern Ireland Housing Market Review and Perspectives 2012-2015 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/housing_market_review_2012.pdf 

Annual Report 2011 

www.nihe.gov.uk/annual_report_2010-2011.pdf 

Corporate Plan 2011 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/2011_corporate_plan.pdf 

Home Energy Conservation Report 2011 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/home_energy_conservation_- 

_fifteenth_annual_progress_report.pdf 

Rural Matters – January 2012 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/rural_matters_january_2012-2.pdf 

Strategy Documents 

Homelessness Strategy – 2012-2017 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/homelessness_strategy_for_northern_ireland_2012-2017.pdf 

Analysis of future need and demand for appropriate models of 

accommodation and associated services for older people (Feb 2011) 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/analysis_of_the_future_need_and_demand_for_appropriate 

_models_of_accommodation_and_associated_services_for_older_people__publishe 

d_february_2011_.pdf 

Community Safety 

www.nihe.gov.uk/building_safer_communities_community_safety_strategy_2008- 

11.pdf 

Rural Action Plan 2009/10 – 2012/13 

http://www.nihe.gov.uk/rural_action_plan.pdf 

Travellers 

www.nihe.gov.uk/travellers_accommodation_needs_assessment_2008.pdf 

69

This document is available 

in alternative formats. 

Contact: 

Strategic Planning Team 

Corporate Planning 

The Housing Centre 


Belfast BT2 8PB 

Tel: 03448 920 900 

Fax: (028) 9031 8775 

Textphone: 0845 6504381 

Email: corporate.planning@nihe.gov.uk 

June 2012 

www.nihe.gov.uk

Newry and Mourne DHP 2012 - Northern Ireland Housing Executive

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