To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will make a statement on the religious affiliation of applicants for grants under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992. [32840]
This is matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, whose Chief Executive has advised me that, following a report from the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights, the Executive seeks to monitor the religious affiliations of applicants for grant aid. In order to do so, the Preliminary Inquiry form used in the scheme includes a relevant question. It is not compulsory to answer the question, nor does the answer, when given, have any bearing on the decision to approve or reject an application.There are insufficient data, to date, to make a meaningful assessment of the impact of the grants scheme on applicants of particular religious persuasions.
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will make a statement on the number of grants approved under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, by district council area. [32838]
This is matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. whose Chief Executive has advised me that figures have been recorded by district council area only since 1 April 1994, and these are set out in the table. The total number of applications approved since October 1992, including those listed, is 50,781.
| Council | Number of grants approved |
| Antrim | 461 |
| Ards | 1,059 |
| Armagh | 2,955 |
| Ballymena | 527 |
| Ballymoney | 215 |
| Banbridge | 1,402 |
| Belfast | 14,230 |
| Carrickfergus | 491 |
| Castlereagh | 1,019 |
| Coleraine | 523 |
| Cookstown | 1,368 |
| Craigavon | 3,900 |
| Derry | 1,173 |
| Down | 1,395 |
| Dungamon | 1,982 |
| Fermanagh | 2,137 |
| Larne | 431 |
| Limavady | 346 |
| Lisburn | 3,509 |
| Magherafelt | 454 |
| Moyle | 225 |
| Newry and Mourne | 3,397 |
| Newtownabbey | 1,092 |
| North Down | 1,216 |
| Omagh | 1,408 |
| Strabane | 589 |
| Total | 47,504 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will make a statement on the number of applicants from each district council area for grants under the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1992. [32839]
This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, whose Chief Executive has advised me that formal applications are not normally made until there is a reasonable expectation that grant aid will be available. The number of applicants, therefore, can be regarded as almost synonymous with the number of grant approvals. The earliest stage in the process is the Preliminary Inquiry state, which gauges the number of potential applicants. There are a number of reasons why potential applicants do not become actual applicants including the failure of the property or the applicant to meet the criteria for particular grants, but no statistics are kept which would show the numbers of potential applications which do not progress. The numbers of Preliminary Inquiries received since October 1992 is 100,511. Figures have been recorded by district council area only since 1 April 1994 and these are as follows.
| Council | Number of preliminary inquiries |
| Antrim | 1,053 |
| Ards | 1,803 |
| Armagh | 3,977 |
| Ballymena | 1,148 |
| Ballymoney | 563 |
| Banbridge | 1,892 |
| Belfast | 19,450 |
| Carrickfergus | 984 |
| Castlereagh | 1,881 |
| Coleraine | 1,217 |
| Cookstown | 1,861 |
| Craigavon | 5,048 |
| Derry | 2,540 |
| Down | 1,914 |
| Dungannon | 3,001 |
| Fermanagh | 2,832 |
| Larne | 882 |
| Limavady | 742 |
| Lisburn | 3,776 |
| Magherafelt | 1,073 |
| Moyle | 515 |
| Newry and Mourne | 5,435 |
| Newtonabbey | 2,289 |
| North Down | 2,000 |
| Omagh | 2,178 |
| Strabane | 1,194 |
| Total | 71,338 |
Note:
The figures cover the period from April 1994 to 31 December 1997. Preliminary Inquiry Forms do not specify a particular grant. This is determined by the Executive and can include Renovation, Replacement, Disabled Facilities, Common Parts, Houses in Multiple Occupation, Minor Works Assistance and Repairs Grants.