Mid and East Antrim: 260 new homes built in 12-month period and 'significant housing capacity remaining in three main towns'
A total of 260 new homes were completed during the period between April 1 2025 and March 31 2026 in Mid and East Antrim, according to a new report.
The borough council’s Housing Land Availability report presented to a meeting of the council’s Planning Committee, on Thursday, said that, of these, 41 per cent were built in Ballymena, 13 per cent in Carrickfergus and almost 12 per cent in Larne.
Thirty-three per cent were constructed in the borough’s small towns, villages and small settlements.
There were 173 new homes completed in the three main towns during this period, a decrease from 210 during the previous 12-month period with the biggest drop in Carrickfergus from 80 to 35.
The number in Larne fell from 36 in 2024/25 to 31. The number of new-builds increased in Ballymena, from 94 during 2024/25, to 107 during 2025/26.
Meanwhile, the number of new-builds in the borough’s small towns and villages doubled from 28 during 2024/25 to 56. During 2025-26, there were 32 new homes completed in Cullybackey; 12 in Ahoghill; seven in Greenisland and five in Whitehead.
However the number of completions in the borough’s villages has more than halved from 78 during 2024/25 to 30 in 2025/26 with the highest number of completions in Ballycarry, 12 during the last financial year, followed by eight in Portglenone and six in Cargan and four in Kells and Connor.
Of the borough’s small settlements, there was one completion in Cairncastle during the last financial year.
The housing monitor stated there is land remaining for 6,521 potential new dwellings in Mid and East Antrim with almost 278 hectares of land available. This includes sites with planning permission that are not yet developed or currently under construction.
The report said there is “significant housing capacity remaining in each of the three main towns”.
In Ballymena, there are almost 1,700 units, Carrickfergus, 1,868 and Larne, 1,802 with capacity also remaining in the small towns, villages and settlements in the borough.
The chair of the Northern Ireland Housing Council Knockagh Alliance Councillor Aaron Skinner recently told the Local Democracy Reporting Service of the importance of resolving Northern Ireland’s “housing crisis” in a bid to build stronger communities.
Cllr Skinner said that one of the biggest barriers to building new homes is lack of waste water infrastructure. He suggested if Northern Ireland Water was to break away from the Department for Infrastructure, this would allow NI Water to borrow money needed for investment in this infrastructure.
“There is unlikely to ever be enough money in the Northern Ireland budget to do what needs to be done. That would allow us to build the waste water infrastructure we need to build the houses we need. Until we get more houses, we are going to keep having a housing crisis.”
At the end of March 2025, there were 3,248 people on the Housing Executive’s waiting list in Mid and East Antrim. Of these, 2,458 were described as being in housing stress, living in unsuitable accommodation.
A total of 295 new social housing properties were under construction in Mid and East Antrim during the 2024/25 financial year, at a cost of almost £11m, the Housing Executive has said, with a further 195 social housing units planned in the borough.
Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporting Service