Housing Executive: Capital Assets

Social Development – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:00 pm on 8 May 2012.

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Photo of Jo-Anne Dobson Jo-Anne Dobson UUP 3:00, 8 May 2012

1. asked the Minister for Social Development to outline the capital value of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive stock expressed as land, domestic dwellings and other assets.         (AQO 1897/11-15)

Photo of Nelson McCausland Nelson McCausland DUP

I am advised by the Housing Executive that, at the end of March this year, the capital value of its stock was as follows: the housing stock, which is approximately 90,000 units, has a value of £3·4 billion; the land it holds has a value of £72·3 million; and other assets stand at a value of £68·8 million.

Photo of Jo-Anne Dobson Jo-Anne Dobson UUP

I thank the Minister for his response. When Housing Executive properties are transferred to housing associations, in what manner is the Executive’s corporate debt apportioned? In other words, does the debt transfer with the property?

Photo of Nelson McCausland Nelson McCausland DUP

The transfer of properties to housing associations is something that we are taking forward. There has been only one example of that so far, which was the case of Rinmore in Londonderry. In future, we intend to take a substantial number of properties across. The arrangements for that have not yet been formalised with the Housing Executive. We have asked it to identify a number of properties, but the detailed arrangements of that have still to be worked out.

Photo of Mark Durkan Mark Durkan Social Democratic and Labour Party

Is the Minister of the opinion that the sizeable asset that is the Northern Ireland Housing Executive could be utilised as a means of attracting investment, thus enabling the building of more, much-needed social housing?

Photo of Nelson McCausland Nelson McCausland DUP

The Member is straying into the area that I have referred to on a number of occasions recently, and that is the forthcoming housing strategy. It is important that we maximise the potential for building new homes in Northern Ireland, and if there are ways in which you can lever in additional money using, for example, the sort of approach he is talking about, that is the sort of thing that we may consider in a strategy.

Photo of Steven Agnew Steven Agnew Green

The Minister stated in answers to Assembly questions to me that approximately 6,000 houses require multi-element improvements. Given that there is in Rinmore, as he pointed out, a pilot scheme where those have been transferred to housing associations that, by my estimation, would represent up to £200 million of public housing stock. Would he see it as good value for money for the majority, if not all, of that stock to be transferred to housing associations?

Photo of Nelson McCausland Nelson McCausland DUP

When we do not have the capital money in the budget to do the sort of work that is being talked about to meet the requirements for multi-element improvements to Housing Executive stock, the only way in which that can be funded is through transferring properties across to housing associations, which can then borrow money to undertake the work. The choice is between not doing the work and going down that road. It has proved popular with the residents of that estate in Londonderry. It is now increasingly recognised that that is the way forward for major improvement programmes. If we can improve the quality of the homes — I am sure that the Member will agree — and improve, for example, their energy efficiency to address issues of fuel poverty, it is imperative that we go down that road. I think that it will be successful.