‘Obvious need to build more, adequately planned, social housing’ – Ruane

Sinn Féin Councillor Mickey Ruane believes that the issue of housing provision in the greater Warrenpoint area is becoming a cause for concern, saying that the Sinn Féin constituency office in Warrenpoint have been inundated with ever increasing numbers of enquiries relating to topic.

Ruane has expressed his serious concerns that more and more families are becoming caught in a housing trap as a result of the dire decline in the local Social housing stock.

Speaking to Newry Times, Ruane stated, “Many families have, for a variety of reasons, found themselves becoming reliant on the private rental sector which is unregulated and has unfortunately led to some unscrupulous landlords exploiting the situation.

“Associated problems include lack of regulation of rents, poor quality service and inadequate maintenance. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, there is no security of tenure.

“The historic decline in the stock of social housing in the greater Warrenpoint area has led to an under provision which has in itself created long waiting lists, often up to two years and more. This has put many families under intolerable stress.

“What this means to many is that they are unable to plan their future with regard to schooling for their children and in many cases they are forced to consider relocation away from their community and wider family support. Even then, the options are extremely limited with the problem being so widespread.

“There is an obvious need to build more, adequately planned, social housing.

Ruane also voiced his frustration at being unable to meet the expectations of constituents in relation to their housing needs. He added, “The right to provision of adequate housing is one of the most basic human rights and the failure to meet this need is an issue that requires immediate redress.”

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Posted by Newry Times News on Apr 30 2013. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry