Victoria Square pensioner pleads with MLAs to fast-track new legislation

Patrick McKeague is one of the owners of an apartment at Victoria Square in Belfast who was forced to vacate their home due to safety fears about the structure of the building.

Mr McKeague told how he was left devastated at having to leave the property into which he had pumped his savings.

Last month, a bid for compensation from the owners of the Victoria Square apartments was thrown out by a High Court judge because claims in Northern Ireland must be made within six years of a building being completed.

At Stormont on Monday, Minister for the Department of Communities Gordon Lyons said a proposed bill would bring Northern Ireland into line with the law in the rest of the UK.

Mr McKeague said he welcomed the minister’s announcement but did not know how it would affect the Victoria Square residents’ case.

Mr McKeague said: “It is still in the preliminary stages.

“We don’t know how quickly this could even be implemented.

"Retrospectively, I am not sure how much it helps us with the court case but it is a great plus to think we are going to be in line with the rest of the UK with a 30-year limitation period.

“Hopefully they will be able to expedite it and get it through Stormont as quickly as possible. Get it all signed, sealed and delivered and not leave it sitting on the shelf for a few years. Work on it now, bring it forward. If it is 30 years as proposed, the capture area will be huge.”

He added: “It definitely needs to be fast-tracked. I plead with the MLAs to get this done because it is so important, not just for the residents of Victoria Square, but many other people.”

Mr McKeague said he believed the law should have been changed in Northern Ireland earlier.

He told how he bought his apartment in Belfast city centre in 2011 and moved in the following year. However, by 2019 residents were forced to move out after a defect was identified in a structural column.

He said: “I was absolutely traumatised, I could not believe it. I had bought this lovely luxury apartment and paid the money for a balcony.

“I paid out all my savings for this apartment, and then to find out that you can’t live there any more because your health would be in danger, it was very hard to accept.

“A lot of people were worse off than me because they had to go into rented accommodation, go back to live with their families. Thankfully, I had my family to support me, which helped me tremendously.

“The stress alone of the whole ordeal has been devastating.”

A charity, Ulster Garden Villages, owns 54 of the 91 apartments in Victoria Square. The remaining properties are owned by individuals.

A statement from Ulster Garden Villages welcomed the announcement by Mr Lyons.

It said: “Having only received judgment a little over a month ago on the Victoria Square apartments case, this is very welcome news indeed and will bring Northern Ireland legislation on a par with that of England and Wales.

“We now ask that all political parties work together to accelerate the passage of this legislation, in the hope that a resolution may be found for the owners of the Victoria Square apartments.”