No 'Fire Sale' On NI Property, Says Wilson

The Stormont Finance Minister has insisted there will be no so-called 'fire sale' of bankrupt properties taking place in Northern Ireland.

Speaking after the Republic's National Assets Management Agency (NAMA) published its first Annual Report - covering the period from the establishment of NAMA on the 21 December 2009 to December 2010 - he said that an associated report on the NAMA Northern Ireland Advisory Committee at Stormont proved there would be no Northern Ireland 'fire sale'.

Mr Wilson, (pictured) insisted that NAMA would be managing assets' disposals in a way that takes account of both market conditions and other asset disposals including those planned by the Executive.

The DUP Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson had already made clear his views to the Republic's government, when, at a cross-border meeting in January, he was able to discuss NAMA's work and the way it managed so-called 'toxic assets'.

After it had been hit by the international property market crash, he said: "Given the deterioration in the financial situation in Ireland, I sought assurances that this commitment still stood."

He was told that "such a move would be in no one's best interests" and "there would be no fire sale".

Now, today, NAMA's Annual Report has shown the extent of the task the Agency is facing: "It is clear that NAMA's work will remain a significant issue for us for some time," Mr Wilson commented.

"We already know that NAMA has acquired £3.35bn worth of Northern Ireland-based loans, representing 5% of the total portfolio.

"Of the Northern Ireland portfolio, £2bn is undeveloped land, £1bn is in investment properties and £350m is property and land under development," he said, but cautioned, "the fact that data on specific Northern Ireland assets is still unavailable remains a particular concern".

Bankrupt

Mr Wilson said the Annual Report also showed that some 9% of the properties held by NAMA that are in receivership or administration are located in Northern Ireland.

Referring today to a further, more recent cross-border meeting, he said: "I recently met with Minister Noonan on this matter and I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that Northern Ireland is in no way disadvantaged."

NAMA manages billions in debt on a vast array of property connected to Irish banks in the Republic, Northern Ireland and outside Ireland.

While the property market in Northern Ireland is in recession, with fewer houses being built and prices - even for new houses - falling, the Executive is concerned that knockdown 'fire-sale' prices would further undermine the market locally.

This is especially true as NAMA currently controls more property in NI than anyone else.

Mr Wilson said today "that is not happening". He was speaking after the latest data from the National House Building Council (NHBC) was published and showed that the average price for new houses sold in NI was just £157,300 - a decrease of £13,100 (7.7%) on the same quarter in 2010.

The statistics also showed that for this quarter - just 391 new homes were started - represented a decrease of 47.9% on the number recorded for the same quarter in 2010.

See: 'Toxic Bank' Assets On Cross-Border Agenda

See: Price Of New Homes Plummet

(BMcC/GK)