Monkstown mother-of-six pleads for more social housing

A mother of six, who has been waiting eight years for larger social housing, says “every day is a struggle”.

Karla Lee, from Monkstown in Newtownabbey, has six sons with additional needs and is currently sleeping on a mattress on the floor of a bedroom she shares with her five younger sons.

“Living on top of each other is the hardest thing and all we’re looking for is an extra room,” she told BBC News NI.

“It’s very difficult on a daily basis to manage children in a confined space – apparently there are no four-bedroom houses in the area.”

Ms Lee said it was frustrating as a mother “not being able to provide a suitable home for my children”.

“You just do your best – that’s all you can do as a mummy, and I don’t think it’s enough,” she added.

“I understand the budget issue, but eight years is a long time in my life and in my children’s lives that I haven’t been able to be a mother and provide for my children.”

Money available for building new social housing was cut sharply in Stormont’s April budget.

There will only be enough resources left to begin building less than a third of the 2,000 goal.

Councillor Aaron Skinner, who works with Karla and her family, said it was a “disgrace” they had waited so long.

“They deserve a suitable home that meets the needs of the family and is close to their support network,” he said.

“We just don’t build houses big enough for their families in this area.”

Ms Lee is one of more than 47,000 people on a waiting list for social housing.

Northern Ireland Housing Associations Federation chief executive Seamus Leheny said there was a “crisis”.

The budget for building new social housing in Northern Ireland has been cut by more than 70% this year, meaning there will only be money to build around 400 new homes.

“We’re not building enough social housing, we’re not building enough affordable housing,” he said.

“People are pointing fingers and looking at Dublin where there is a housing crisis. We are going to follow in Dublin’s footsteps and we have to learn from that and tackle the problem now before it gets worse.”

Northern Ireland has seen a slowdown in the construction of social and private housing.

Official data released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency earlier this year suggests that housebuilding fell to a 60-year low in 2023, with just 5,379 new homes completed during the year, including 570 social homes.

Building permit data also suggests there is no sign of increased supply.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has said he will seek additional funding for social housing in the next round of monitoring – a Stormont Mini Budget.

Monitoring cycles provide a system for reviewing spending plans and typically occur three times a year, in January, June and October.

“I secured additional funding in the last monitoring cycle, but it is not enough, it is not acceptable and we need to do much more, so I will continue to advocate for housing,” Mr Lyons added.

“We also need to look at alternative sources of funding and that is why I am very keen to get the Housing Executive reclassified so that it can borrow against its own assets.”

He said it was not just about more money, but also about addressing issues such as urban planning, wastewater and public land.