Other News In Brief

NI House Prices Continue To Rise

House prices across Northern Ireland have continued to rise according to figures for last month.

The latest RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and Ulster Bank Residential Market Survey reported a rise in prices despite lower demand from buyers.

A net balance of +6% of respondents in Northern Ireland reported a rise in new buyer enquiries last month, the lowest this figure has been in the past two years. This was down from +8% in May and +22% in April.

In terms of newly agreed sales, the net balance was +10%. Again, this was lower than May’s figure of +13% and April's figure +17%.

Despite this cooling demand, house prices continued to rise firmly, in part linked to a lack of supply in the market. +90% of respondents in the latest report said that house prices rose. This was the highest net balance for prices across the UK.

House prices are expected to rise throughout the next quarter of the year too, according to a net balance of +42% of respondents. And despite the cooler demand in June, respondents expect sales to increase over the next three months as well.

One of the biggest factors impacting the market continues to be the lack of properties, although there is perhaps an indication in the latest report that this is easing. June's survey was the first time in 12 months that the instructions to sell balance was in positive territory, although only very slightly so at +2% and following on from many months of decreasing instructions.

Legislation Welcomed To Enshrine The Rights Of Irish Speakers

Sinn Féin MLA Aisling Reilly has welcomed legislation to enshrine the rights of Irish speakers into law taking another step forward yesterday.

She said: "The British government agreed in June 2021 to legislate for Acht Gaeilge at Westminster after Unionist parties reneged on their commitment in the New Decade New Approach agreement to deliver rights to Irish speakers.

"Yesterday the legislation cleared another hurdle passing through the British House of Lords.

"The growing and thriving Irish language community has run a vibrant campaign for recognition of basic language rights. Almost 20,000 people were on the streets of Belfast just weeks ago demanding the British government implement its commitments.

"It's important we see Acht delivered to give official recognition of the Irish language in this state, appoint An Comisinéir Teanga, repeal draconian laws preventing the use of Irish in our courts and ensure that people can access public services through Irish."

Minister Welcomes EC's Adoption Of PEACE PLUS

Finance Minister, Conor Murphy has welcomed the European Commission's adoption of the cross-border peace and reconciliation programme – PEACE PLUS.

The new £1 billion programme will be delivered by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). PEACE PLUS was previously agreed by the Executive, the Irish Government and North South Ministerial Council, it is the biggest PEACE programme to date and is funded by the UK Government and the EU with match funding from the Executive and Irish Government.

Commenting, Minister Murphy said: “It is very welcome news that the PEACE PLUS programme has been adopted by the European Commission. This £1 billion funding will be welcomed particularly by those in Border communities and those impacted most adversely by chronic economic and social deprivation. It will build upon the success of previous PEACE programmes and provide much needed support for essential social, economic, cultural and environmental activities while also providing significant infrastructure investment."