Upgrades keep officials busy at Building Control

THE Building Control department at Larne Borough Council has been dealing with a significant increase in refurbishment applications.

Building notice cases more than doubled from 69 to 147 in the past year and the number of regularisation certificates soared from just 18 to 111, largely due to social housing refurbishment schemes. The trend helped to boost income to £97,878 in the six months April-October, compared with £94,3812 in the same period last year.

The rise contrasts with a continuing decline in full applications for new builds since the property crash. Officers recorded a 22 per cent decrease year-on-year and told councillors there would be an impact on fee income over the next 18 months.