Housing Executive to invest £1.16m in Moyle this year

Referring specifically to the Housing Executive’s investment in Moyle District in 2009/10, Executive official Frank O’Connor said:“Last year the Housing Executive:

n Spent over 400k on improving and maintaining Housing Executive homes in Moyle;

n Invested 290k to assist vulnerable people through the Supporting People programme. There are currently seven supported housing accommodation based schemes and 5 floating support providers in the council area;

n Provided over 400k on grant aid to improve housing conditions in the private sector;

n Commenced adaptations to 20 tenants’ homes; invested 73k on adapting Housing Executive homes in the District;

n Provided 693 private sector tenants with Housing Benefit assistance, an increase of 37% from March 2006;

n Worked with 8 community groups in Moyle District.

Spelling out the Housing Executive’s agenda in Moyle for the coming year, when the Housing Executive plans to invest 1.16m in the District, Frank O’Connor said:

“nHousing waiting list - The number of housing stress applicants on the Moyle waiting list increased from 135 at December 2005 to 174 at December 2009 although there has been little change in the number over the past three years. We believe that the growth in private renting has been instrumental in creating increased choice for people looking for a home of their own.

“n Housing allocations - Last year we allocated 76 Housing Executive homes to waiting list applicants compared to 82 in December 2005. The District Housing Plan shows that almost 1 in 2 applicants who are in housing stress in Moyle want to live in a rural area.

“n New social housing - The three year Social Housing Development Programme (April 2010 - March 2013) includes 61 homes in Ballycastle town and Cushendall. A prospectus has also been published to highlight locations where new social housing is needed but housing associations have been unable to secure sites. Locations in the Moyle prospectus include Ballycastle and Cushendun.

“* Homelessness in Moyle District - The number of homeless people increased from 58 in March 2006 to 82 in March 2010. Two-thirds of those accepted as homeless were either single people or small families. The Housing Executive will continue to work hard to provide services to support those faced with homelessness in Moyle District. We also want to review our temporary accommodation, consider expanding floating support services and examine the range of help we provide to vulnerable young people and offenders.

“n Supporting people to live independently in Moyle - This year we will invest 320k to help the most vulnerable people in Moyle to continue to live independently. This is especially important for older people and people with disabilities. There are currently seven supported housing accommodation based schemes and 5 floating support providers in the council area.

“n Maintaining Housing Executive homes in Moyle - Despite pressures on our funding the Housing Executive will continue to provide its day-to-day maintenance service. Housing Executive tenants in Moyle District will see this service protected in line with their conditions of tenancy. Last year we also completed a scheme for new heating systems in Bushmills.

“n Empty Housing Executive homes in Moyle - The Housing Executive continues to place importance on reducing the number of empty properties in Moyle District. At the end of March there were nine empty Housing Executive homes in the District, all of which were awaiting allocation.

“n Warm Homes Scheme - In 2006 the level of fuel poverty in Moyle District was 45.3%, compared to the Northern Ireland average (34.2%). In the 9 months to March 2010, 73 homes in the District were insulated, 3 had heating installed and a further 3 homes had both insulation and heating installed.

“n Grants improving private homes in Moyle - In the past year we have had to limit private sector grants to protect the Statutory Disabled Facilities Grants and Repair Grants. Only a small number of discretionary grants were approved last year. With limited funding this year it is likely that approvals for discretionary grants will remain low. In 2009-10, 34 grants were completed in Moyle and 414k paid out. We have allocated 410k for grants in the District this year.