Transfer of 55 NIHE properties was approved

Housing Minister Nelson McCausland said an equality screening exercise was carried out by NIHE in June/July 2010 and this concluded there was no need to undertake a full Equality Impact Assessment.

He was responding to a query from DUP MLA Jonathan Craig asked who it was that took the decision to transfer the 55 properties in Rinmore to the Apex Housing Association Multi-Element Improvement pilot scheme.

Mr McCausland said that following a meeting in March 2011 the NIHE Board approved the transfer proposal and subsequently obtained consent from the Department of Social Development (DSD) in a letter dated April 12, 2011.

The Minister revealed the NIHE Board was first presented with a paper on the Rinmore transfer proposal in December 2009.

The move to transfer the stock initially prompted strong objections from the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA) which said it fully supported tenants in securing the home improvements they needed but opposed departmental policy that prevented this work being carried out by the Housing Executive.

But answering Mr Craig’s queries the Housing Minister said the scheme was clearly what the tenants wanted.

“Work on this pilot started in April 2009 when the community approached the then Minister for Social Development to see if such a transfer was possible. Community support is essential given that tenants must support such a proposal before any transfer could take place,” he stated.

“This was the first time a community had come forward in this manner and was in effect why they were chosen for this first pilot. With the overwhelming support of tenants in a recent ballot, the transfer will now be completed and if other similar areas may benefit from this sort of transfer I will be more than happy to explore that potential further,” he added.