The Catholic church could pocket millions of pounds from the sale of a prime development site owned by the Housing Executive in north Belfast.
The 0.6-acre site, which was previously home to St Kevin’s Parochial Hall, was recently put on the market by Belfast based estate agents OKT.
Local housing campaigners have now called for the site to be made available for social housing amid claims the Catholic Church has put a £2m price tag on the property.
North Belfast currently has a chronic housing shortage.
Located on the junction of North Queen Street and Federick Street, the site is a short distance from the new Ulster University city centre campus and St Patrick’s Church on Donegall Street.
It has now emerged that the Catholic was given a 10,000-year lease on the site in 1985, however, the Housing Executive retains a freehold interest on the potentially lucrative parcel of land.
It is understood site, which is currently not being used, has been placed on the market by church authorities even though it does not own the property.
Promoted online as a “rare opportunity to acquire a prominent corner site with obvious development potential” the priced is advertised as “on application”.
The lease agreement, dated December 1985, was signed by the then Bishop of Down and Connor, Cahal Daly and two other priests.
As Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Daly, who died in 2009, was the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The Housing Executive has said it did not put the St Kevin’s site up for sale adding the seller is required under the lease to seek written consent from it.
A spokesman for the executive said it “has not to date, been asked to give its written consent for the site to be sold as required by the terms of the lease”.
“However, we have received a request from OKT Belfast on behalf of their client for a waiver of covenant which is currently under consideration,” he said.
The Irish News understands that in 2016 the Housing Executive refused permission for the covenant to be removed.
Asked if the executive stands to benefit financially from any sale, the spokesman said: “We may be entitled to seek a premium for the removal of any restrictive covenants contained in the lease or the disposal of its freehold interest where these are required by the current lessees.
“The premium to which the Housing Executive may be entitled is assessed by Land and Property Services.”
Local housing campaigners say the St Kevin’s site Should be turned over for social housing.
In recent years other blocks of publicly own land, which were originally earmarked for social development, have been turned over to private developers for the construction of student apartment blocks linked to Ulster University.
Frank Dempsey from Carrick Hill Residents’ Association said talks were held between a potential developer, the Housing Executive and community representatives but when approached the Catholic Church priced the St Kevin’s site at £2m.
Mr Dempsey said the developer has since withdrawn.
“The Catholic Church and Housing Executive know the situation in north Belfast regarding the housing crisis,” Mr Dempsey said.
“How can someone who is leasing a site sell it and dictate what’s going on in the site?
“Here is the Catholic Church making money out of something they don’t own.”
Gerard Brophy of St Patrick’s and St Joseph’s Housing Association said there needs to be clarity.
“The problem is before you can talk about development you have to talk about who owns the land,” he said.
Brophy also raised questions about the 10,000 year lease agreement.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church confirmed that the Housing Executive “own the freehold for the St Kevin’s site.”
“The Diocese of Down and Connor Diocesan Trust has a leasehold for this property for 10,000 years beginning from 1985,” he said.
St Kevin’s Hall which was previously located on this site was demolished in 2015.
“The Diocese can confirm that the parish is currently exploring a number of proposed plans for this site, including the sale of the leasehold.
“Any such plans will be fully compliant and carried out in accordance with the ‘The Property (Northern Ireland) Order 1997’ and the ‘Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2022’.”
