Rural Housing Celebrate Commencement of Works at Randalstown Scheme

On Thursday 12th August Rural Housing Association’s Chair, Ciaran McKenna and CEO, Stephen Fisher were joined by The Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Billy Webb alongside John McMullan, Vice-Chair of the Housing Executive, Dominic O’Neill, Dankse Bank,  Trevor Clarke MLA, Pam Cameron MLA, Cllr Ryan Wilson, Cllr Linda Clarke, and Helen Boyd Tidy Randalstown, to celebrate the commencement of works at RHA’s latest social housing scheme in Randalstown.

Rural Housing Association’s latest scheme, located on 99-101 Main St, Randalstown, will see the addition of nine new-build, 3 person, 2 bed apartments within the village and is part funded through the Department for Communities and Dankse Bank.  The scheme, designed by GM Design Associates, reflects the principles of our published Rural Design Guide for Social Housing, through the inclusion of design features which capture the rural character of the surrounding area, including references to the old bakery which inspired the front facing elevations for the scheme.

In 2014 ourselves and GM Design Associates created The Rural Design Guide for social housing, with the aim of providing a framework that could help planners design social housing schemes in rural areas that are sympathetic to the surrounding environment and reflect the heritage of the rural communities in which they sit.  To us this was a crucial step in developing social housing within rural areas, and it is these principles that have influenced the design and character of our latest social housing scheme in Randalstown.

The contractor for this scheme is Bell Contracts. All homes are expected to be completed by autumn 2022, with homes being allocated using the Housing Executive’s Waiting List.