To ask the Minister for Social Development, pursuant to AQW 32785/11-15, whether his Department intends to recover funding from Clanmill Housing for projects that have not acquired planning permission.

The Housing Executive assesses and approves each individual scheme in the social housing programme, determines the level of grant payable and pays out that grant in three separate tranches. No funding is allocated or paid until each scheme is approved. A first tranche is paid for land acquisition, a second tranche is paid when planning permission has been secured and construction starts and a third tranche is paid on scheme completion.

In the event that grant is paid for land acquisition and planning permission cannot be achieved for whatever reason, the Housing Executive would initiate recovery procedures. However, at this point all of Clanmil’s planning applications are proceeding as normal, so there is no need to consider recovery.