Housing Development Grant open to applications

Date published: 13 March 2019

The new Housing Development Grant (HDG) is being piloted as part of the Building Successful Communities (BSC) housing-led regeneration pilot programme and will be available in the six BSC pilot areas.

The main aim of the grant is to provide support to developers to encourage the construction and sale of new build or refurbished private sector housing where these developments would not be viable without grant assistance. The grant is only available for developments that are for sale to individual purchasers. Multiple sales to the same individual or group of individuals will not receive grant aid.

Applications are now being invited from developers for proposals for private housing in any of the six BSC pilot areas. The BSC pilot areas are Doury Road, Ballymena; Lower Falls, Belfast; Lenadoon and Glencolin, Belfast; Lower Shankill and Brown Square, Belfast; Lower Oldpark and Hillview, Belfast; and Tigers Bay and Mountcollyer, Belfast.

Paul Price from the Department for Communities said: “This new grant is part of the Department’s drive to renew communities that are currently experiencing blight, dereliction and decline. It is being introduced as part of the Building Successful Communities pilot initiative which aims to use housing intervention as one of the main catalysts for local regeneration.

“The grant is now open and the Department is keen to see applications from developers with private housing projects that will enhance and complement existing Building Successful Communities Action Plans.

“We look forward to the anticipated environmental, social and economic improvements being delivered to our communities as a result of this scheme.”

The amount of grant offered will be the minimum necessary to trigger a development. This will usually take the form of a grant to cover the funding gap or shortfall between the cost of the development and the sales achieved upon completion. A shortfall of up to 30 percent of the total development costs may be applicable.

The Department’s overall budget for the Housing Development Grant will only be known once we receive and assess the applications.

There is currently no deadline for the submission of applications. HDG is being piloted as part of BSC and it is anticipated that the scheme will be open to application for the lifetime of the BSC pilot.

If successful, the grant may be rolled out beyond the BSC pilot areas subject to budget and future Ministerial approval.