PROPERTY CRISIS: Cramped and overcrowded
PICTURE eight adults, one of whom is due to give birth, plus a newborn baby, a cat and a dog. And then imagine squeezing them all into a three-bedroom house in east Belfast.
This is the face of the spiralling housing market in Northern Ireland – two young couples forced out of their homes by landlords desperate to sell their properties before prices drop even further.
Without a place to live, they had no other choice but to move in with their parents.
When brothers Gary and David Murphy met sisters Stephanie and Lauren Ringland, they hit it off so well they moved in together.
Gary and Stephanie gave birth to little Laurie a fortnight ago, and Lauren is due in two weeks.
Both couples were living in separate, privately-rented accommodation until their landlords informed them they were selling the properties and they had to move out.
Despite all four being employed – Stephanie and Lauren are currently on maternity leave – they couldn't afford to move into any other privately-rented accommodation or buy their own properties.
After eight months on the Housing Executive's waiting list, they are still without a home.
They moved in with Stephanie and Lauren's parents seven months ago. Their two brothers, Terry and Johnny, also live in the house.
"The Housing Executive are really taking the mickey with this," said Gary. "I don't know how many times I have been on the phone to them."
He said they were "close to crazy" over the living situation.
"We can't afford to go for a mortgage or even private rental, so our only option is the Housing Executive, and that's not even working at the moment.
"But the only thing we can do is wait."
Castlereagh Ulster Unionist Alderman Michael Copeland said the couples were being "condemned" to live in cramped, overcrowded conditions.
He said that Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie needed to reassess her stance on the Existing Satisfactory Purchase (ESP) scheme which allows housing associations to purchase privately-owned properties and turn them into social housing.
"This is an opportunity that may not come again. It presents society with the ability to address at speed the plight of all those people who are without affordable and appropriate accommodation," he said.
A spokeswoman for the Housing Executive said both couples' cases were "relatively new", with Gary and Stephanie given homeless status on May 13, and David and Lauren in July.
She said both couples were offered temporary accommodation but turned it down, and both wish to be housed in areas of "high demand". She said staff were "sympathetic" to both couples and will continue to work closely with them to ensure they are rehoused "as quickly as possible" in accordance with the Housing Selection Scheme.
"However, how quickly someone is rehoused depends on a number of factors, including their level of points, areas of choice and type of accommodation required," she said.
One of the families has now been offered accommodation by the Housing Executive.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
