Belfast homes proposed at two sites in the west of the city have been approved by the council’s Planning Committee, bringing forward plans for 65 new dwellings. Belfast City Council announced the decisions on 14th October 2026, following the committee meeting the previous evening.
The schemes comprise 36 social housing apartments near Monagh By-pass and 29 houses near Mount Eagles Avenue, including six affordable homes. The same meeting approved redevelopment of commercial premises in Dunmurry for a new Lidl supermarket.
For residents around these sites, this is a committee decision on identifiable development proposals, rather than a new housing allocation or a promise that construction starts immediately. I would check the final decision notices and planning agreements before treating every detail in the committee reports as an operative condition.
Where the Belfast homes would be built
The Monagh By-pass application concerns land southwest of the road and northwest of Black Ridge Gardens, within the wider Glenmona development. The council’s announcement describes two three-storey apartment buildings containing 36 social housing units, alongside seven business and light industrial units.
Application LA04/2025/0088/F was submitted by BW Homes and Construction. The officer report explains that the housing is Category 1 accommodation for people over 55, with a mix of one and two-bedroom apartments. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive supported the social rented provision.
Four apartments are designed to be wheelchair accessible. Officers found this met the policy requirement for at least 10% accessible units in developments of this scale. The report also considered the size of the apartments, private and communal outdoor space, and how the new buildings would fit with the surrounding Glenmona scheme.
These Belfast homes would change the balance of uses on this part of the wider site. Officers accepted the applicant’s marketing evidence that demand for the previously approved industrial uses was limited, while concluding that reducing the employment provision would not undermine the longer-term delivery of economic land.
The proposal retains business space instead of replacing the entire site with housing. That is relevant for anyone following Glenmona’s development: the decision concerns a mixed-use revision to an existing approved scheme, with both homes and employment accommodation remaining.
The separate 29-house scheme at Mount Eagles
Application LA04/2026/0129/F, by Toland House Properties, concerns land north of Barnfield Road and south and southwest of Mount Eagles Avenue. It proposes 29 dwellings with parking, private and communal amenity space, landscaping and access from Mount Eagles Avenue.
The officer report identifies six homes as intermediate housing for sale, to be secured through a planning agreement. The council’s public announcement describes them more broadly as affordable housing. I would keep that distinction in mind: affordable provision does not automatically mean that every one of those homes is intended for social rent.
The land falls by approximately eight metres towards the southeast. Existing homes define parts of its boundary, while vegetation marks the transition to countryside. Officers examined the layout and changes made during the application, concluding that the revised design was appropriate to its surroundings without unacceptable effects on neighbouring residential amenity.
These Belfast homes attracted substantial local concern. The report records objections from 157 residents, alongside four letters of support and three other comments. Issues included the effects of development on the surrounding residential area, and officers addressed objections within their assessment.
Committee approval of the Belfast homes does not erase those concerns. It means the committee has supported the proposal after the planning assessment. The final permission and agreed controls will be important when residents want to understand how construction, access, landscaping and occupation are to be managed.
Infrastructure and agreements still matter
For the Monagh scheme, the report says NI Water was content subject to conditions after further information was supplied. It also records assessment of noise, air quality, ecology and drainage. Officers recommended approval subject to conditions and a Section 76 planning agreement, including delivery of the social housing.
Section 76 is the Northern Ireland mechanism used here for a planning agreement binding development to specified obligations. For Mount Eagles, the report identifies affordable housing and green travel measures, including a travel plan, among the matters to be secured.
The Mount Eagles report also assesses wastewater infrastructure and includes draft requirements concerning a pumping station and protection of nearby residents from operational noise. Those are report-stage proposals. They should not be quoted as the final conditions without checking the issued notice.
I would therefore separate approval of the Belfast homes by committee from completion of every legal and administrative step. The reports sought delegated authority for officers to finalise conditions and agreements and handle non-substantive outstanding matters. The council’s announcement does not supply the final wording or a construction timetable.
Dunmurry supermarket redevelopment also backed
The committee approved demolition of commercial units at Kingsway in Dunmurry and construction of a new Lidl food store of 2,300 square metres. The council says the existing site contains a Tesco supermarket and five smaller retail units, with parking at the front and rear.
The application also includes changes to parking, alterations to access on Dunmurry Lane, landscaping and associated works. This is a redevelopment of an established commercial site, so the practical changes extend beyond the replacement supermarket building itself.
Council Planning Committee chair Ryan Murphy said the new store would “support jobs in the area and provide choice for people”. The meeting also approved alterations and refurbishment at the former City of Belfast School of Music in Donegall Pass.
What residents and applicants should check next
The next useful documents for the Belfast homes are the issued planning notices and completed agreements for each application. These should establish the binding controls, rather than requiring readers to piece them together from recommendations and draft conditions.
The council’s announcement confirms the committee outcomes. The official reports for Monagh By-pass and Mount Eagles explain the proposals and officer assessments considered on 13th October.
For another recent Northern Ireland planning decision, our Ballyclare homeworking appeal report covers the legal status of a garden room used partly for hairdressing. The Belfast schemes are different in scale and procedure: they concern committee approval of new housing, with delivery and final documentation still to follow.
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