1. Mr Crawford asked the Minister for Communities to provide an update on the competition to award funding to deliver the intermediate rent housing scheme. (AQO 914/22-27)

The competition for funding, which closed at the end of August, attracted interest from a range of organisations. My officials are now assessing the applications received. By the end of this year, I expect to be able to make the outcome public and to move on to the next stages and towards awarding funding.

I thank the Minister for his answer. Given budgetary constraints, what additional steps does he plan to take beyond capital housing budget increases in order to expand housing options?

I am grateful to the Member for his question. I begin by welcoming him to this place. It is good to have another former member of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council here. There are quite a few of us, and the Member is very welcome.

For me, it is important that we progress with the intermediate rent option as an alternative. The Member rightly highlights the need for greater supply all round, however, and that is what I intend to achieve. How I intend to do it will be outlined in the housing supply strategy. We have a housing issue in Northern Ireland, and I want to make sure that we tackle it. The most effective way in which we can do so is by making sure that there is greater housing supply across all tenures.

Will the Minister outline exactly how that competition will be judged? What weighting will be given to factors such as housing need and how the lack of affordable housing in an area is affecting other Executive objectives such as the expansion of the university in Derry or the ability to house health workers in any area? Will the bid be assessed solely on profitability?

Intermediate rent funding will be awarded on the basis of whom the highest scoring applicant is. There will be an intensive period of due diligence done on the applicant and the applicant's proposals. Legal arrangements will then be required. As to who will benefit from the scheme, I do not intend or want to limit that to any one part of Northern Ireland. It is another tool that we have for dealing with the housing crisis that we face. Much of it is yet to be determined.

Will the Minister clarify whether there will be provision to ensure that all intermediate rent housing schemes will be shared and mixed tenure?

It is certainly our intention to make sure that intermediate housing schemes are available across Northern Ireland. Schemes will not be limited to any one particular area. That falls in with what the Department is trying to do, which is to increase shared housing across Northern Ireland.

I welcome the fact that the Minister said that the scheme will not be limited to any one part of Northern Ireland, so I put in my bid now for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. Where will intermediate rent homes be delivered? To where does he hope to have them allocated?

It is no surprise to anyone in the House that the Member has spoken up for her constituency. As I said to Mr Durkan, schemes can be delivered in any location, and I would like to see them delivered right across Northern Ireland. There will be some constraints placed on our doing that, of course. There will be areas where, because of the high rental cost and high demand, the scheme will be more effective. It will not be possible to reflect that and make sure that it works in all different areas because, sometimes, the affordability gap will be very small between social rents and private rents. It is certainly my intention to make sure that this impacts where it is most needed. I hope that this will only be a pilot and that it can be expanded as time goes on.

Will the Minister agree that it should be targeted at the areas and constituencies most in need, particularly given the level of saturation where even temporary accommodation is not available in areas such as Derry and Belfast?

The Member has highlighted her area, and there are particular challenges there, especially with temporary accommodation. As I have said on every issue since I have come into post, as a result of the constrained budgetary environment that we are operating in, we need to make sure that every pound that we spend goes as far as possible. Naturally, that means that, where there are areas of high demand, that might be reflected. Where there are areas of high demand, you will see a higher rental cost, so that is where it will be most effective. As I just said to Deborah Erskine, it will not always be possible to get that value for money where there is a smaller affordability gap.