Former hotel at Larne’s Curran Road to be tumbled for new social housing project

Permission was granted earlier this month by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for the application submitted by Connswater Homes Housing Association.

The social housing proposal involves the construction of 16 new apartments for the over 55s plus parking on the site of the vacant former hotel building. The new homes will be located in a 3.5 storey block.

A new Curran Court Hotel has been operating at Redlands Road in Larne since 2008.

Outline planning permission for the Curran Road site was granted in 2014 for the construction of 20 two-bedroom apartments and for the demolition of the former hotel premises.

The building which is now derelict went on the market for £275,000 in 2016.

Connswater Homes has said previously that the Housing Executive waiting list has identified a need for over 55s accommodation. The housing association has also indicated the development would be an “enhancement of the redundant Curran Court Hotel site and provision of much-needed homes for those families and individuals in housing stress”.

The Housing Executive says that the housing waiting list in Mid and East Antrim has 1,852 applicants in housing stress with single, older person and small family households comprising 87.5 per cent of need.

During 2020/21, homes were allocated to 514 applicants on the waiting list.. The Housing Executive funded 70 supported housing accommodation schemes. Fourteen Housing Executive homes were sold to sitting tenants.

A Housing Executive report to Mid and East Antrim Council  says that 169 new social housing properties were completed in the borough with 153 under construction during the last financial year.

The report suggests that 1,065 social housing properties are required during the next five years. However, just 449 are planned by 2024.

In April, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey announced that 2,403 new social homes in Northern Ireland were started in 2020/21  and 1,318 social housing homes were completed.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter

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