WORRIED… Debbie Coyle
LATEST figures have revealed a massive 20 per cent increase in the number of Fermanagh people on a waiting list for social housing.
Sinn Fein councillor Debbie Coyle described news that a total of 835 local people who are on the Housing Executive waiting list as worrying and called for the rising numbers to be remedied.
Of these 835 people, over 300 are designated to be on the high-priority ‘housing stress’ list for those deemed to be in greatest need of accommodation. That represents a 20% increase on last year’s figures.
News of the alarming increase in the number of people without a home comes after last week’s news that unemployment in Fermanagh has increased by ten per cent on last year.
The Fermanagh Herald revealed last week that the county suffered the second highest jump in the number of claimants in all of the 26 district council areas.
It has also emerged that last year an extra 361 people, who deemed themselves as being homeless, approached the Housing Executive seeking help, however less than half of these people were allocated a home.
The Sinn Fein councillor believes that the deepening crisis is set to increase as the UK welfare reforms kick into effect.
For those people who class themselves as ‘homeless’, Cllr Coyle said they included people sleeping on friends’ sofas.
The figures have unmasked the low number of social housing in Fermanagh as the growing list of people awaiting social housing continues to stretch.
Cllr Coyle called for the Housing Executive to explain why so few homeless people were given a house.
“I would like to have someone tell me why they wouldn’t award full status to these homeless people and put them into accommodation,” she said.
“I also want to know how many of these are young people and are they from broken families.
“These figures are worrying especially with the welfare reforms coming in, it looks like these figures will only increase. There needs to be easier access and a safe roof over their heads.
It has also been revealed that last year only three new social housing was built in Fermanagh, compared to 20 in 2010.
Sinn Fein MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sean Lynch condemned the 20% increase and said the “damming statistics show how things are getting worse in the county”.
He added that he will put forward an urgent question to the Minister of Social Development to address the problem.
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