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Northern Ireland housing authority plans to decommission all tower blocks
Northern Ireland’s housing authority intends to decommission all 33 of its tower blocks.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), which manages around 85,000 homes across the region, has said its board’s “overall view is that tower blocks should be decommissioned over a period of time”.
It comes after a report by an Independent Reference Group in January identified fire safety issues in some NIHE high rises.
As part of an extensive action plan, the report recommended that the landlord consider installing sprinklers in its tower blocks where “necessary, practical and value for money”.
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A spokesperson for the NIHE said: “From 2015, the Housing Executive has been reviewing the condition of all of its housing stock in order to plan what investment is required in the future.
“As part of this work, we developed a strategy to look at the sustainability of the tower blocks in our ownership.
“Our board’s overall view is that tower blocks should be decommissioned over a period of time and has asked that a plan for each block is produced.
“Draft proposals have been drawn up and once they have been presented to the board we will immediately engage with tenants, political representatives and the wider community.”
The NIHE previously proposed demolishing some or all of its tower blocks as an option for its high rise stock following a review in 2015.
It was due to consult on the proposals in early 2018, but the plans were put on hold after the Grenfell Tower fire last June.
