Housing body withholds payment

The Housing Executive has withheld more than £1m it owes to contractors in Northern Ireland until improvements are made to what it regards as "poor or sub-standard" work.

The executive is also involved in six legal disputes - affecting nearly £500,000 - with contractors who argue that their work is not sub-standard.

The information was provided in a written answer from the Northern Ireland Minister John Spellar to the Democratic Unionist Party MP Nigel Dodds.

The MP for North Belfast said he was worried about how tenants were affected by the disputes.

"Every year £1.3 or £1.4m is held back to cover problems that may arise as a result of non-fulfilment of those contracts or whatever," Mr Dodds said.

"My concern is with those residents or tenants who come to me and say, 'Look at the length of time it is taking to complete work, the standard of the work,'" he added.

"I am saying that in view of the amount of money, there must be a better way of getting the work done."

Mr Dodds asked Mr Spellar to clarify how many contractors had money withheld from them by the Housing Executive since 1997 because of the standard of work provided.

Mr Spellar replied that due to the considerable number of contracts let annually by the executive, the information for each year dating back to 1997 could only be obtained at "disproportionate cost".

He added: "All contractors have money withheld, pending the making good of defects. In any given year, this amounts to an average of £1.2m

"The Housing Executive is currently withholding some £1.3m, pending the satisfactory completion of 221 contracts.

"The gross value of these contracts is around £89m."

Unfit housing

Mr Spellar said the executive was also involved in six legal disputes, to a gross value of some £480,000, with contractors who have disputed, among other things, that their work is sub-standard.

Last month, the executive unveiled a major plan to make unfit private housing in Northern Ireland a thing of the past.

Figures at that time showed 28,000 privately owned homes in the province were unfit.

The Housing Executive currently spends about £40m a year in grant aid to enhance properties.

It published proposals for its most radical shake-up in grants in more than a decade to give it more scope to successfully target home improvements.