To ask the Minister for Social Development for his assessment of the suitability of Northern Ireland for a 'Homes for a Pound' scheme, similar to that operated by Liverpool City Council.

My Department continually monitors housing initiatives, such as the ‘Homes for a Pound’ scheme, across other jurisdictions to determine their suitability for adoption in Northern Ireland. In my Housing Strategy for Northern Ireland ‘Facing the Future’, I have already outlined a wide range of proposals and actions I want to take here to restore a balanced housing market, providing households with a range of good quality housing choices at a price they can afford.

These include increasing access to affordable housing, developing further innovation in the funding of new social housing, improving standards in the private rented sector, bringing more empty homes back into use and taking a housing-led approach to regenerating communities.

Many of these proposals and schemes are currently being developed and implemented and there will be a need to evaluate their success and the value for money they are delivering to the public purse, before adopting any further initiatives.