Work officially gets under way on new £3.7m social housing scheme

The Clanmil Housing project at Graham Gardens was officially launched this week by the Mayor of Lisburn and Castlereagh, Cllr Brian Bloomfield MBE.

Councillor Bloomfield and the council’s Chief Executive, Dr Theresa Donaldson joined Clanmil’s Chief Executive, Clare McCarty and the design team on site to see how the work is progressing.

The development, on the site of a former public car park and vacant garage building, is due for completion at the end of 2018, and will provide 36 apartments. Thirty-two of the apartments will have two bedrooms to accommodate three people and the other four will be one bedroom, two person apartments.

The Graham Gardens project is being funded through a £2m grant provided by the Department for Communities, and £1.7m of private finance secured by Clanmil.

Welcoming the start of work on the scheme, Cllr Bloomfield said: “The addition of further social housing to the council area is important as it helps to ensure quality affordable homes for residents. These new apartments are ideally located for young families and older residents as they offer easy access to local shops and leisure facilities.”

When completed, the new apartments will bring the number of homes Clanmil provides in the Lisburn area to 217. That number includes 19 apartments for active older people at the association’s Seymour Street development, completed just last month, and 13 new apartments at Sloan Street which opened in August last year.

Clanmil is also working with the Department for Communities to progress the transfer of 59 former Ministry of Defence homes at Mountview Drive, which it plans to refurbish and bring back into use as social and affordable homes. The housing association already provides 39 houses for rent in the area, along with 11 equity share homes.

Clare McCarty, Chief Executive of Clanmil Housing, said: “Clanmil provides high quality, affordable homes in areas of high housing need, and we are delighted that the Mayor and Dr Donaldson have visited our latest Lisburn development to announce the construction of these new apartments.

“This development will provide much needed social homes right in the heart of the city, convenient to local amenities and services.”