Britain facing €40m bill under North’s SPED scheme

The British government is facing a record €40m bill this year for buying homes from people fleeing paramilitary intimidation.

Under the Special Purchase of Evacuated Dwellings scheme, the North’s Housing Executive purchases homes if the police sign a certificate saying that the occupants’ lives are in danger.

The Housing Executive warned yesterday that the costs incurred by the scheme were expected to increase by one-quarter this year.

This is largely due to applications from police and prison officers whose personal details were allegedly stolen by the IRA and from Catholic families forced out of their homes by loyalist paramilitaries in Belfast and other areas.