Today (Wed 28th at 9.30am) at Laganside Court a grieving family from the Springfield Road, West Belfast, is facing eviction and will be joined by human rights campaigners to plead with the court and the Housing Executive not to make them homeless.

Caitríona McCrudden lost her mother in September of 2022 and she along with her daughter and four month old grandson are now facing eviction. Under Housing Executive guidelines, a husband, wife or civil partner – or a partner or family member who has lived in the property for over 12 months – may take over a person’s tenancy when they pass away; Caitriona has submitted extensive evidence of filling these criteria, to no avail.

Speaking in advance of the hearing, the grieving and distressed mother said:

“I have been begging the Housing Executive not to throw us out and getting nowhere. This is my home and my community, and we love our street. All of our neighbours are brilliant and have written me letters of support. I wrote to the Minister and the Chief Executive but they have ignored me. I don’t understand how they can do this to a family who just lost a parent. We have lived here for years and we have nowhere else to go. It’s just so cruel.”

The family are supported by neighbours, local community groups and the Take Back The City campaign – assisted by human rights organisation, Participation and the Practice of Rights.

Take Back The City campaign organiser Seamus Farrell said:

“We have been holding housing clinics in the area for months and are hearing more horror stories every week. This family should not have to fight to keep a roof over their heads while they grieve for their mother and grandmother. It makes no sense and we have supported them to write to the Minister and the Chief Executive of the Housing Executive, Grainia Long. So far they have simply had no response. When they made a formal complaint, they were told to fill in more forms. Now we are at the court, hoping that justice can be done and that this family is not forced on to the street”

A disproportionate number of people in homelessness are in West and North Belfast. Take Back the City have developed plans to build 750 units of accommodation at the Mackies site, a few hundred yards from where Catríona and her family now face eviction.

By the end of March 2023 the number of households in temporary accommodation had topped 10,000 for the first time. As of September 2023, the number of households recognised as officially homeless was at 27,566 – an increase of nearly 5% in six months. A disproportionate number of people in homelessness are in West and North Belfast. Take Back the City have developed plans to build 750 units of accommodation at the Mackies site, a few hundred yards from where Catríona and her family now face eviction.

Seamus went on to say:

“The housing crisis in north and west Belfast is out of control, made worse by many years of failure by the Housing Executive and everyone at Stormont to deliver anywhere near enough homes for people. This year alone we have supported around 20 families to make formal complaints about severe mould and damp causing breathing problems for young children, eviction notices being served with seven day’s notice and even displacement to Omagh and Ballymena, cutting people off from jobs, healthcare, schools, community and family support networks.

“We hold our clinics beside one of the biggest sites in the city, which has been derelict for over twenty years and is controlled by the Ministers own department. Meanwhile families like Catríona’s are suffering every day of the week. The only winners are landlords and hotel owners who are being paid a fortune to keep homeless people off the streets.

“We hope the Minister and the Housing Executive can see sense and avoid a tragedy here by granting this family permission to stay and we invite them to come to our clinic to speak to the people who are impacted by their policies and to engage seriously with our efforts to help solve this worsening housing crisis.”