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Woven, formerly known as Habinteg Housing Association, currently provides over 2,500 homes including supported, sheltered, and general needs housing, and this investment – part of a wider £150m investment across the north – will see it build 388 homes across the North West as well as ‘improving the quality of their current homes and services’.

Woven said that its recent £23.6m investment into Beechmount Village in Strabane and £14.6m into Duke Street and Spencer Road in Derry will provide 248 high quality homes.

Neil McIvor, Chair at Woven, said: “We’re committed to playing our part in helping to meet the unmet housing needs across Northern Ireland and our recent investments are reflective of this. Over the next five years we aim to strengthen this commitment and provide more housing solutions across the region.

Woven staff L-R Jason Hardy, Head of Development; Peter O’Reilly, Head of IT; Katrina Smyth, Director of Development; Paula Ewart, Interim Executive; Ruth Mulholland, Head of HR; Judith McNamee, Head of Housing; Derek Johnston, Director of Finance and Corporate Services.

“The £150m includes vital grant funding from the Department for Communities. It enables us to invest in our homes and services and keep a stream of developments in the pipeline. It ensures that we can provide a range of housing solutions in each area to meet the needs of the widest possible range of tenants and create diverse environments to help communities thrive.”

Habinteg Housing Association rebranded to become Woven earlier this month. Woven said that with a new name and visual identity , it will “continue to explore further development opportunities across Northern Ireland to address the growing demand for social housing and are committed to providing accessible, affordable, and inclusive homes”.

Last week, Derry City and Strabane District Council agreed to establish a taskforce to tackle the area’s housing crisis.

Currently there are almost 50,000 applicants on the social housing waiting list in Northern Ireland, including almost 6,000 applicants in the Derry and Strabane district alone.

Woven aims to address rising waiting list figures across the North West. Woven staff L-R Adele Lynch, Development Manager; Neil McIvor, Chair; Katrina Smyth, Director of Development and Judith McNamee, Head of Housing.

Derry & Strabane Council is now set to write to the Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons, calling for the multi-year building of at least 1,000 social houses a year and “action to reduce the number of empty houses in order to create affordable homes”.

For more information on Woven visit: www.Woven.org.uk

Housing Association aims to invest £62m in Derry & NW to address rising waiting list figures