The first homes delivered under a new Northern Ireland affordable rent programme will be available from summer 2026, with advertising set to begin in the coming weeks.

Fifteen two- and three-bedroom properties on the Old Eglish Road in Dungannon will be the initial release, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons announced. The homes are being built alongside social housing units in what the department describes as the first mixed-tenure development of its kind in the region.

Rents will be fixed at least 20 per cent below local market rates and will rise no more than once per year, subject to caps set out in private rental legislation. Tenancies of up to five years and flexible deposit options are planned to give households greater stability.

Eligibility targets lower-income working households. Single adult applicants must earn less than £30,000 annually net, while two-adult households are capped at £40,000 net.

The programme is backed by a £61.5 million Financial Transactions Capital loan from the Department for Communities to Maple and May, a subsidiary of Choice Housing. The firm is contributing an additional £10.8 million in private capital and roughly £50 million in revenue finance, bringing the total funding package to over £122 million.

Minister Lyons said increasing the supply of affordable rented homes would help ease pressure on the social housing waiting list, which now exceeds 50,000 households, a rise of more than 30 per cent in a decade. He added that using loan funding rather than grant money allows the department to continue directing capital toward traditional social housing projects.

Further schemes will begin this financial year in Newry, Craigavon, Lisburn and Londonderry. Developments in Belfast and other locations are planned in subsequent years.

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, who represents Fermanagh and South Tyrone, welcomed Dungannon being selected for the first phase. She said the scheme offers new opportunities for people to put down roots locally and would provide real support for families.