Two thousand and fifty three new home starts have been delivered in 2011/12, keeping the Programme for Government target firmly on track and realising an overall investment of more than £230 million in towns and villages across Northern Ireland.
Minister McCausland said: "When I took up this post just about a year ago, the financial environment was quite unprecedented and certainly presented challenges. I am delighted that we have managed to do what we set out to do and more, and I commend the work of Housing Associations in levering private finance to help us achieve this goal.
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"In particular, this year has seen a rise of almost 30% in take up of co-ownership housing. Co-ownership offers a real opportunity to help those wanting to own their own home, in particular supporting first time buyers. In October last year the Executive allocated additional funding and it is encouraging that lenders are matching that and working in partnership with Housing Associations to offer a much needed economic boost.
"We already know that every £1million spent on new house building supports seven direct and five indirect jobs for a year. Based on the £233million invested, that equates to almost 2,800 jobs created or sustained."
In addition, almost 20,000 maintenance schemes worth £65million have begun, the highest number since 2005/6.
(CD/GK)
