Choice has been named in the top 5 UK social house builders by Inside Housing – the first time a housing association in Northern Ireland has made the top 10. Against a challenging backdrop for the sector, Choice continues to deliver new build social housing provision, supported by the Department for Communities and the NI Housing Executive.
With over 13,000 properties across Northern Ireland, and a staff of c500 people, the association has invested over £100m in new builds in the last three years and has committed to a similar outlay on new housing projects over the next three.
In the prevailing context of a continuing shortfall of housing supply, in the last twelve months alone Choice has started 437 and completed 364 new social homes and has also invested £18m in their planned maintenance programme for their existing stock.
Michael McDonnell, Choice Group Chief Executive said,
“Meeting the growing housing need across Northern Ireland is our number one priority and we have made a commitment to building homes that meet the needs of both individuals and families and their local communities.
“It is vitally important that we protect the Social Housing Development Programme funded by the Department for Communities to allow us to continue to deliver at this scale and ease pressure on housing waiting lists.”
“Our wholly owned subsidiary Maple and May continues to support Choice locally in mixed tenure developments.”
In early 2025, Maple & May announced plans to develop 300 new affordable rented homes across Northern Ireland over the next five years, delivering the first ‘Intermediate Rent Homes’ scheme in partnership with the Department for Communities (DfC).
It offers homes at discounted rents compared to local open-market rents, helping those struggling with the cost of private rentals and others who are saving towards home ownership. Once built, eligible lower income households can apply for a tenancy with rents set at least 20% below market rent levels for the locality.
Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons added,
“I am committed to working in partnership to increase housing supply and meet the ambitious targets in the Programme for Government and the Housing Supply Strategy. We must bring an innovative and radical mindset to how we can fund and deliver more social homes. I am proud to say that there is a collective effort across government, the housing sector and the private sector to deal positively with the challenges we face.
“Partners like Choice Housing are a key part of this, and I congratulate them on this achievement of being named among the top 10 housebuilders in the UK. We are facing many challenges and we will overcome those most effectively by working together. I am doing everything possible to stretch my budget to enable us to deliver more homes and services for our people.”
Michael McDonnell added,
“The sector continues to face many barriers to delivering new social homes, budget restrictions, planning delays, wastewater and infrastructure capacity and availability of land are all areas we need to find solutions for. It is testament to the work of Choice, our partners and the wider sector that we are continuing to deliver at pace, despite these challenges.
“Securing additional funding for the Social Housing Development Programme (SHDP) through partners DfC and NIHE has further facilitated our ability to build new homes.”
Considering the size of the Northern Ireland market compared to other parts of the UK it is an important acknowledgement that Choice continues to deliver homes whilst navigating significant challenges.
Choice currently has 1,043 units under construction across Northern Ireland with anticipated handover in the next 12-18 months.
