RSUA meets with Housing Executive officials

On Tuesday, RSUA members met for a discussion with officials from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE). Representing NIHE was Kevin Logan, Head of Procurement, and Adrian Blythe, Head of Quality Improvement.

This meeting was a follow-up from an initial session held in November 2024 and provided RSUA members with an opportunity to be updated on several items raised previously.

Key topics included:

Procurement approach (Hope Street Transformation Project)

NIHE is advancing its Hope Street Transformation Project under the provisions of the new Procurement Act 2023. It is a residential-led regeneration scheme located on a two-acre site at Hope Street in Belfast.

A notice of pre-market engagement was published on 1 May 2025 on eTenders. A group Teams call is scheduled for mid-June, ahead of finalising the tender documents.

The main developer will lead on the design element, with a competitive flexible procurement approach being adopted. This includes an initial assessment with the developer prior to the proposal stage, followed by a period of dialogue with bidders. The parameters for this engagement have been outlined on eTenders.

This represents a new procurement approach for the NIHE, which may serve as a model for future projects.

The current timeline is as follows:

• Market engagement concludes on 6 June 2025.
• Tender documents will be issued in early autumn 2025.
• Contract award is anticipated around summer 2026.

Training information

At the November session, members expressed an interest in receiving training information from NIHE that would help them better bid for and secure its work.

NIHE followed up by alerting members to the Green Skills Action Plan Launch Event, hosted by the Department for the Economy (DfE) in conjunction with NI Chamber.

RSUA members are welcome at the event and should arrive between 2pm and 2:30pm on 29 May 2025 at Custom House, Belfast, BT1 3ET.

Decarbonisation efforts

NIHE updated members on various initiatives aimed at the decarbonisation of housing:

• Alongside housing executives from the other devolved nations, NIHE is seeking to borrow funds from Westminster to support decarbonisation projects.
• NIHE is advancing its Low Carbon Programme towards Net Zero and has retrofitted 150 of the 300 homes targeted. Initial findings from the programme are expected to be published in autumn 2025.
• NIHE has completed the first year of its Cavity Wall Insulation Action Plan, addressing 300 out of a planned 3,000 dwellings. The next phase involves the Installation Assurance Authority (IAA) conducting a desktop study, which will enable further insulation work to proceed.
• NIHE is participating in the GEMINI project, an all-Ireland initiative exploring geothermal energy to help meet 2050 emissions targets. It is considering a pilot involving two homes to assess the feasibility of this energy source.
• NIHE aims to upgrade all dwellings in Northern Ireland to achieve Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) Band C by 2030.
• NIHE is considering adopting the Passive House Standard for a small number of upcoming newbuilds.

If you have any questions or comments about this meeting, please contact Curtis Large, RSUA Policy and Public Affairs Officer, at curtis@rsua.org.uk