The Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin April - June 2016 is released

A report entitled “Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin April – June 2016” was published today by the Department for Communities (DfC).

The Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin is produced each quarter by the Analytical Services Unit of the DfC. This Bulletin contains statistics on starts and completions, homelessness, the House Price Index and new National House Building Council (NHBC) registered dwellings sales and prices.

Key facts include:

• The total number of new dwelling starts in Northern Ireland recorded by Building Control for April – June 2016 was 1,993, an increase of 9% on the same quarter in 2015 (1,826). The total number of new dwelling completions for April – June 2016 was 1,637, an increase of 27% on the same quarter in 2015 (1,289).
• In 2015/16, there were a total of 1,568 Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP) new social housing dwelling starts and 1,209 SHDP new social housing dwelling completions. The SHDP figures are sourced from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, and not Building Control. More detail on the definitions of starts and completions used by the two organisations is available in Appendix 1.
• In total, 4,655 households presented as homeless to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive during April - June 2016, an increase of 305 (7%) from the previous quarter (4,350). The most common reason reported by those presenting as homeless was that their accommodation was not reasonable (1,066).  This was followed by those who reported a sharing breakdown or family dispute (953).
• The number of households accepted by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive as full duty applicants for the quarter April - June 2016 was 2,677, a slight decrease (2%) on the previous quarter (2,721). The most common reasons reported by full duty applicants for their current situation was that their accommodation was not reasonable (855) or they were experiencing a sharing breakdown or family dispute (479). Of those households accepted as full duty applicants during the quarter, 205 were discharged. Whilst these figures are quite volatile quarter on quarter, this is one of the lowest levels of discharge in a quarter since the beginning of the time series presented here. A full duty applicant is an applicant considered by the Housing Executive to be eligible, homeless (or threatened with homelessness), in priority need and unintentionally homeless, to whom the Housing Executive owes full housing duty.
• During the quarter ending March 2016, 331 new National House Building Council (NHBC) registered dwellings were sold, an increase of 50% compared with the same period in 2015 (221).
• The average price of NHBC-registered new dwellings for the quarter ending March 2016 was £151,600, a decrease of 8% on the previous quarter (£163,900).

Section 3 of the Quarterly Housing Bulletin includes information on the Northern Ireland House Price Index that was released by Land and Property Services in August 2016.

• The Northern Ireland House Price Index in Quarter 2 (April – June) 2016 stands at 111.1. This means that house prices in Quarter 2 2016 were 11.1% higher than in the base period Quarter 1 2015.
• Over the year from Quarter 2 2015 to Quarter 2 2016, the House Price Index increased by 7.8%.

Notes to editors: 

1. The Northern Ireland Housing Bulletin is produced each quarter by the Analytical Services Unit of the Department for Communities. It contains information on starts and completions, homelessness, the House Price Index and new house sales and prices. Provisional and revised figures are indicated by (P) and (R) respectively.
2. Building Control New Dwelling Starts and Completions data (table 1.1 and 1.2) are sourced from Building Control offices linked to the local councils via Land and Property Services (LPS).  The starts and completions data for the social sector in tables 1.3 and 1.4 continue to be sourced from the NIHE which manages the Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP). DfC is responsible for the allocation of funding for the programme.
3. Statistics on homelessness are sourced from the NIHE. Where the Housing Executive concludes that an applicant is eligible, homeless (or threatened with homelessness), in priority need and unintentionally homeless it owes them full housing duty. An applicant to whom full housing duty is owed is referred to as a “Full Duty Applicant” – FDA.  In this case the Executive shall ensure that accommodation becomes available for their occupation. The Housing Executive can discharge its housing duty in one of three ways: by re-housing of the applicant in the social or private sector, by offering the applicant three reasonable offers of accommodation which are all refused by the applicant or if the applicant re-houses him/herself and is no longer interested.
4. The Northern Ireland House Price Index designed by Land and Property Services provides a measure of change in the price of a standardised residential property sold in Northern Ireland. The index uses information on all verified residential property sales as recorded by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
5. Data for new dwelling sales and prices are derived from transactions for new private sector and Housing Associations dwellings notified by solicitors to the National House Building Council (NHBC). Refer to the NHBC website for more information.
6. For the purposes of this bulletin, the terms ‘house’ and ‘dwelling’ are interchangeable and can be defined as ‘a self-contained unit of accommodation, having all amenities available to each household (own kitchen, bathroom, toilet) regardless of shared entrance.’ A ‘house’ or ‘dwelling’ will, therefore, comprise ‘either one self-contained household space or a number of non self-contained household spaces’.
7. The bulletin is available on the Department for Communities website. Hard copies are available from the Analytical Services Unit, Department for Communities, 1st Floor, Lighthouse Building, Gasworks Business Park, Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 2JB; Telephone - (028) 9082 9255; E-mail asu@communities-ni.gov.uk
8. The previous edition of the Housing Bulletin was published on 9 August 2016.
9. The next edition of the Housing Bulletin will be published January/February 2017.
10. Further enquiries should be addressed to:
    Analytical Services Unit,
    1st Floor, Lighthouse Building,
    Gasworks Business Park,
    Ormeau Road,
    Belfast,
    BT7 2JB
    Telephone: 028 90829 1457
    Email: asu@communities-ni.go.uk
11. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Communities Press Office on 028 90823505 or email press.office@communities-ni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07623 974 3

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