Tenants will benefit from Northern Ireland’s most eco friendly social homes - Ritchie

Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie today officially launched construction of a new £2million eco-friendly housing scheme in East Belfast.

The development of 17 two and three bedroom town houses is the first social housing scheme in Northern Ireland to meet the high Level 4 requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes. The Code looks at factors such as energy and carbon emissions, health and well being, water use, waste and pollution.

Minister Ritchie said: “The delivery of high quality, energy efficient housing is a key priority for my Department. Social housing is already leading the way in building to high levels of sustainability. This latest development is one of a series of initiatives in the drive towards zero carbon status, which will benefit the environment and tenants alike.”

The Grove Street East development, by Trinity Housing, will see regular heating used only as occasional back up to solar panels and an air source heating system, which recovers and re-circulates heat from throughout the building. The properties will all be built to enhanced levels of insulation and air tightness and, when complete, will offer a much reduced environmental impact and considerably lower running costs for tenants.

Construction work has just commenced, with completion planned for summer 2011.

The Minister continued: “Social house building is now at its highest level for over a decade. Not only do I want to build more homes, I want to build better homes as well. At this time of rising energy costs, hitting hardest on those with lower incomes, I am determined that tenants get the very best deal from every new house provided.”

Notes to editors:

1. Trinity Housing Association is one of 32 housing associations registered with the Department for Social Development, giving access to grant funding. The Association provides a wide range of housing for elderly persons and has developed award winning housing schemes for the frail elderly and those suffering from dementia. It also provides family housing and housing for people suffering from mental health and learning disability problems.
2. This 17 unit scheme will cost some £2.1million, including land acquisition, construction and associated on costs. The Department, through the Housing Executive, will fund £1.5million through Housing Association Grant, with the balance of £0.6million contributed by Trinity through private financing.
3. The Code for Sustainable Homes is an environmental impact system which uses a rating system to ascertain the overall sustainability of a house. New homes are given a rating from 1 to 6, with Level 6 being the best. From April 2008, all new social housing has had to be designed to at least Level 3 and from November 2010 a small additional grant was made available to encourage housing associations to build to Level 4.
4. Media enquiries to DSD Information Office on 028 9082 9497 or Ciara McGuigan on 077921 50486. Out of office hours please contact Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.