Northern Ireland Planning Service

Northern Area Plan 2016
Strategic Plan Framework: Housing Meeting Community Housing Needs

Policy HOU 5 Meeting Community Housing Needs
Proposals for schemes of more than 25 residential units, or on a site of 1 hectare or more, will be required to contribute to meeting the needs of the wider community, where there is an established need for social or specialist housing, as established by the Housing Needs Assessment.
Where the Housing Needs Assessment establishes there is a need in an identified settlement or within a locality for social or specialist housing, a minimum of 20% of the total number of dwellings in the scheme will be required, subject to the level of need identified and in agreement with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.
The Regional Development Strategy (RDS) encourages the development of balanced communities. However, it is not considered realistic for the Plan to identify the whole range of needs over the entire Plan period and to have site specific proposals with this objective. The Department will therefore seek to ensure the creation of balanced communities, meeting the needs of all the community, through the development control process.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is responsible for the production of Housing Needs Assessments. The most recent Assessment was published in June 2004, and covers the period from March 2003 to March 2008. It is to be reviewed regularly over the Plan period. Developers will be required to enter into legally binding agreements for the provision of such units, finalised before the issue of planning permission. Any units meeting community housing needs will be required to be integrated into the overall development and locality.
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