Northern Ireland house-building sees more growth

Building work started on more than 1,800 new houses in Northern Ireland in the first quarter of 2017, according to the latest official figures.

That is up 16% on the same period last year, when work began on around 1,600 new houses.

The large majority of the 2017 housing starts, 1,699, were in the private sector.

In 2016/17 work started on a total of 7,724 new houses, the best performance since 2010/11.

That compares to more than 15,000 starts in 2005, which was the peak year.

A housing start refers to the beginning of work on a residential property, such as the laying of foundations.