SINN Féin Housing spokesperson Councillor Tony Hassan has called on private landlords in the city to offer their empty properties to the Housing Executive for use as temporary accommodation for the many people who are homeless in the city.
Cllr, Hassan said:
“Over the next nine months there will not be as many new social homes ready for allocation in the city and temporary accommodation is needed for the many family’s who will be presenting themselves as homeless.
“There are over 400 families at present in temporary accommodation and the need for more temporary accommodation is essential.
“When a family presents themselves as homeless the Housing Executive (H.E) has a duty to get accommodation for them.
“If a house is not available then the H.E has to find temporary accommodation for that family.
“The housing situation in the city is the worse I have seen since the early 1970s.
“At that time the Housing Executive borrowed millions from central government to build thousands of socials homes in the north.
“I believe this needs to happen again.
“Sinn Féin has consistently argued for a radical shake-up of social housing. We believe that all housing functions should be transferred from the Department of Community’s to the Housing Executive.
“Despite considerable problems with the Housing Executive, the demise of that body has brought us to the situation that we find ourselves in today,” he added.
