To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 8961/22-27, whether the Minister will commit to increasing the number of shared houses to 300 per year to meet the growing demand for this type of housing development.

This issue is an operational matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

I have sought the requested information from the Chief Executive, who has advised me as follows:

“The Department of Communities (DfC) and Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) are committed to supporting the delivery of a minimum 200 shared social housing units per year as part of the annual Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP) target. The Programme for Government Shared Housing Programme is named ‘Housing for All’.

The ‘Housing for All’ Shared Housing Programme is currently supporting 2,476 shared social housing units across 76 developments”. This is detailed in table 1 below.

The benefits of shared housing, however, extend far beyond those 2476 units as the Housing Associations work with 32 Local Advisory Groups across the shared housing communities. The Advisory Groups support the development and delivery of Good Relations Plans which benefit many communities and individuals, of any tenure, who live within a five-mile radius of the new development. The learning and networks developed through the “Housing for All” Shared Housing programme can therefore be applied widely.

Table 1 - ‘Housing for All’ Shared Housing Programme Schemes and Units by Year including the initial 10 shared housing developments through the T:buc strategy.

It is expected that this level of shared housing provision will continue, subject to funding availability”.

For any future queries relating to operational matters, you may wish to contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive directly at Public.Affairsunit@nihe.gov.uk Making direct contact with the ALB will ensure that you receive the information in the shortest possible timeframe and make best use of public resources.