Social housing schemes proposed for Antrim and Newtownabbey

The proposed development will be comprised of 45 two-bed apartments and three one-bedroom apartments at Bridge Street, if it is given the go-ahead by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.

The site is located on vacant land adjacent to a public car park. A car showroom, which is now demolished, formerly occupied a section of the land.

The proposed scheme will be comprised of two buildings, a main 42-unit four-storey building and a smaller six-unit three-storey building. The site lies beside the existing main Dublin Road carriageway. Twenty-five spaces will be provided in a communal car park to the front of the apartments.

A concept design statement said: “The proposal aims to bring the new access road up to DfI (Department for Infrastructure) adoptable standards and have the new entrance road fully adopted.”

A planning application for the construction of 10 semi-detached social housing properties in the Macedon area of Newtownabbey has also been submitted to council planners.

An application by Connswater Homes for the three-bedroom housing development with landscaping and parking in the vicinity of Fernagh Parade and Ypres Park is being considered by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.

The Belfast to Larne railway line runs along a section of the perimeter. The neighbouring Fernagh estate is described as “an extensive development of social housing comprising over four hundred houses built in 1940/50s”. Ypres Park was built in 1926 for veterans of the Great War.

The Housing Executive says the projected social housing need for Rathcoole, Rathfern and Bleachgreen between 2022 until 2027 is 57 units. In March 2023, there were 376 applicants on the housing stress waiting list for these three areas.

The design concept statement says: “It is considered that the proposed development will deliver substantial community benefits in the form of social housing provision.

“Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council is advising that the applicant remove fly-tipping material and that an effort be made to secure the site.”

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter