30 news social housing units planned for Antrim estate
A planning application has been submitted to Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council for 30 new social housing flats in Antrim.
The application has been made by an agent in relation to the site at Hazeldene Flats, at Newpark Road South, in the Ballycraigy estate.
A supporting design and access statement notes other properties in the surrounding area and at Newpark Road South are “predominantly that of short terraces of two-storey dwellings and blocks of two-storey maisonettes”.
The proposal consists of two three-storey flat-roofed blocks with 12 self-contained flats in block A and 18 self-contained flats in block B.
The statement says the proposed architecture, massing and positions have been “carefully considered and influenced by the location, orientation and outlook of the existing buildings”.
It adds that the proposed materials will “complement the wider Ballycraigy estate and the urban environment”.
“Substantial individual and communal amenity spaces will be created through the provision of enclosed garden spaces to the ground floor accommodation and communal garden amenity space,” the statement continues.
Councillors were told last year there were 3,434 applicants on the Housing Executive’s waiting list in Antrim and Newtownabbey, on March 31, 2024, of whom 2,674 were “in housing stress”; 86 per cent were single, older persons and small family households.
They were also informed 1,377 people presented as homeless in the borough during 2023/24. A total of 443 homes were allocated to waiting list applicants. Of the 59,457 households in Antrim and Newtownabbey, 6,195 are social homes.
The Housing Executive says 1,229 new social housing units are needed in the borough during the next five years. During the 2023/24 financial year, the sum of £4.1m was invested in new social housing stock.
Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter