Intermediate Rent
The Department for Communities has produced a new affordable housing policy which aims to create an additional supply of homes, providing a new affordable “Intermediate Rent” housing option. Funding will be awarded to an Intermediate Rent Operator to support the delivery of new affordable rented homes here.
What is Intermediate Rent?
Intermediate Rent is a new housing rental model for the local housing market. It intends to provide an additional rental choice for lower to moderate income households, providing longer-term, higher quality, well-managed homes at below market rents. Intermediate Rent can provide a solution for households struggling to meet open market rental costs, and those wishing to enter low cost home ownership in the future.
The Intermediate Rent Policy intends to:
- create a new supply of homes
- provide much needed high-quality housing at below market rents for those on lower to moderate incomes
- offer homes for rent with at least a 20% discount on prevailing private market rents for a similar property type and size within a locality
- provide homes of a size and type suitable for the number of occupants, in locations where people wish to live
- alleviate some of the up-front barriers to accessing a rented home and be targeted towards eligible lower to moderate income households
- offer enhanced security of tenure by making available tenancies of up to five years at a time and the option to renew subject to the agreement of the landlord and tenant, and
- offer tenants access to effective and prompt property management and tenancy support services
Intermediate Rent tenancies are a form of private rented tenancy, therefore all of the rights and obligations in place in respect of any private tenancy apply to Intermediate Rent tenancies.
Intermediate Rent homes can make a positive difference for tenants when it comes to rental affordability and can reduce or remove some of the barriers which some people can face in finding and sustaining a tenancy in a home that meets their needs.
The Intermediate Rent policy, which was co-designed with the housing sector, sets out the framework for Intermediate Rent to allow for the future development of a new supply of high quality, long-term, affordable housing with support services comes following a public consultation on the new policy. All background papers including the consultation papers, equality screening, Consultation Outcome Report and summary document can be accessed on the Departmental website.
Intermediate Rent can be developed with or without government financial support, and all providers should refer to and follow the content of the policy.
There are currently no Intermediate Rent homes available to rent. Once homes are developed more information will be published here.
Intermediate Rent ‘Homes for Intermediate Rent Design Standards’
The Intermediate Rent policy document, which has been developed following extensive stakeholder engagement, outlines the key principles of the Intermediate Rent housing product and sets the framework for a home to be offered as “Intermediate Housing for Rent.”
To compliment the policy a bespoke “Homes for Intermediate Rent Design Standards” document has been produced to provide information on the standards expected for Intermediate Rent homes. It sets outs the essential and desirable construction, layout and facilities criteria which Intermediate Rent homes should meet, both internally and externally.
Funding delivery of Intermediate Rent
The Department is planning to make available Financial Transaction Capital loan funding to support delivery of Intermediate Rent homes. Following an open competition for funding, the Department will work with Maple & May Ltd who will act as Intermediate Rent Operator to deliver 300 new Intermediate Rent homes across Northern Ireland over the coming years
Once these homes are built, Maple & May will advertise the properties and make available tenancies to eligible households, in line with DfC’s policy. It is expected the first Intermediate Rent homes will be available for rent from 2026.
Maple and May have provided a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on their website, they can be found at the link below.
Information on the competition which took place and the application process can be found at the link below.
Tenancy support services
Intermediate Rent landlords must provide support services to their tenants as detailed in the Intermediate Rent Policy. To assist providers, a Support Services document which details their obligations and provides links to organisations which can offer this support to tenants has been developed.
Market rent data
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive now regularly publishes a report detailing a summary of average weekly private sector market rents figures to assist with the setting of rents for Intermediate Rent properties.
This data is intended to act as a guide and Intermediate Rent landlords should seek confirmation, at the time of letting, of local average market rents for similar type / size of units from a suitably qualified professional (e.g. a RICS certified surveyor).
The Average Weekly Market Rent data is calculated based on the number of bedrooms in a property and in which of eight Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMAs) it is located. Intermediate Rent should be set with at least a 20% discount on average local market rents for a similar property type and size within an area.
Contact
If you require clarification regarding the policy intentions, please email the Department for Communities Intermediate Rent project team.