Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the long term financial viability of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

The Department for Communities in Northern Ireland sponsors the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. It is Northern Ireland’s largest social landlord and provides 86,000 social homes. This is 1 in 9 of all homes in Northern Ireland.

I am aware that officials in the Department for Communities have carried out work to assess the financial requirements of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Any changes in response to this assessment are rightly the responsibility of the devolved Stormont Assembly and Executive. In the absence of an Executive, this is a matter for the Permanent Secretary of the Department within the limits of the EFEF Act.