Housing Executive: New contractors for £250m work

Thousands of tenants will benefit from repairs and maintenance to their Housing Executive properties

The Housing Executive has appointed new contractors to deliver £250m of maintenance and repair contracts.

In 2022 it allowed 10 firms to walk away from the contracts as inflation meant it was unviable for them to undertake the work at the originally-agreed price.

That resulted in delays for some tenants who had been expecting improvements such as new kitchens.

The organisation said the new contracts were "sustainable for contractors".

The Housing Executive, which is Northern Ireland's public housing authority, owns about 82,000 homes.

The contracts include bathroom replacements for 9,000 homes while kitchens will be replaced in more than 5,000 properties.

Six different areas of Northern Ireland will also benefit from new maintenance contracts.

Housing Executive chief executive Grainia Long said she was delighted by the new contracts.

"The contracts will demonstrate value for money and are sustainable for contractors," she said.

"Our key focus is to ensure that, going forward, we have contracts in place to deliver on our ambitious plans to maintain and improve our homes."

Grainia Long says about 500 fewer homes will be built due to budget reductions

However, due to inflation Ms Long said the Housing Executive would be paying contractors more for less work.

"We have factored that in, we have priced that in to the contracts and so have the contractors," she said.

"That is unfortunately the way things are going in the next number of years."

She also said fewer homes would be built in the next year as the Housing Executive's budget had decreased.

Ms Long said it meant about 1,500 homes would be built in the next 12 months, down from a target of 2,000.

"The impact of that will be felt of course by the construction industry… but also and most importantly by people on the waiting list," she said.