Housing was in focus this week with news that around 5,000 houses in Northern Ireland remain unfinished because of the virtual collapse of the overall property market.

NI Housing Executive (NIHE) figures suggest there are between 4,000 and 5,000 homes in various states of construction.

However, there are better tidings from the organisation that said - in a report 'Rural Homes and People' - that over 300 rural social new buildings had been started.

NIHE said this is the highest number recorded in the last 10 years, far surpassing the previous highest return (185 units in 2009/10).

"Considerable efforts were made across the Housing Executive to promote rural new build and guidelines were established and monitored to ensure that need was being met across all rural areas as far as budgets would allow.

"The community theme continues in many of the other achievements detailed in the report with many actions being made possible due to their commitment including work with Rural Community Network and the Rural Residents' Forum and building on our links with the Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster which resulted in a housing guide for rural young people being launched," said the Acting NIHE Chief Executive Stewart Cuddy.

However, he also cautioned that: "We continue to be faced with the challenge of the recession and its impact on public finances."

In part this was reflected by figures published by BBC NI that quoted NIHE statistics and said some 5,000 'ghost' houses had been started had been left unfinished.

The majority of the homes were built by private developers who could not afford to finish them, when prices plummeted and finance dried up.

Others have been 'mothballed' in the hope the market will recover.

In other recessionary news, a Strabane building and development company has been placed into administration.

B & D Construction, which traded from the Dublin Road industrial estate, had been in business for around 30 years.

It is understood the administrator was appointed by the Ulster Bank.

(BMcC/GK)