Mother's eight-year wait for larger social home

A mother of six who has been on a waiting list for a bigger social home for eight years says "every day is a struggle".

Karla Lee, from Monkstown in Newtownabbey, lives with her husband and six sons with additional needs - she currently sleeps on a mattress on the floor of a room that she shares with her five youngest sons.

"Living on top of each other is the hardest and all we are looking for is one extra bedroom," she told BBC News NI.

"It's very difficult on a daily basis trying to manage the children in a confined space - apparently there are no four bedroom houses in the area."

Mrs Lee said it was frustrating as a mother "that you can't provide a home that is suitable for your children".

"You just do your best - that's all you can do as a mummy, which I don't feel is enough," she added.

"I understand the budget problem, but eight years is a long time out of my life and my children's lives that I haven't been able to be a mummy and provide for my children what they need."

The money available for new build social housing was sharply cut in Stormont's April budget.

There will only be enough to start building less than a third of the 2,000 target.

Councillor Aaron Skinner, who has been working with Karla and her family, said it was a "disgrace" they had been waiting this long.

"They deserve a proper home that meets the family's needs close to their support network," he said.

"We simply aren't building homes big enough for their family in that area."

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

Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Association chief executive Seamus Leheny said there was a "crisis".

The budget for building new social homes in Northern Ireland this year was cut by more than 70%, which means there will only be the money to build about 400 new homes.

"We're not building enough social homes, we're not building enough affordable homes," he said.

"People point the finger and look at Dublin where there is a housing crisis. We are going to follow in the footsteps of Dublin and we need to learn the lesson from Dublin and tackle the problem now before it gets worse."

Northern Ireland has seen a slowdown in both social and private housebuilding.

New figures show there has been a slight improvement in the number of homes that were built across Northern Ireland in recent months.

There were 3,375 new starts in the second quarter of this year, up from 2,927 at the same time last year.

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

Planning permission data also suggests there is no sign of supply increasing.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said he would be asking for additional funding for social housing in the next monitoring round - a Stormont mini-budget.

Monitoring rounds provide a system to review spending plans and are usually held three times a year, in January, June and October.

"I did secure additional funding in the last monitoring round but it's not enough - it's not acceptable and we need to do much more so I will continue to make the case for housing," Mr Lyons added.

"We have to look at alternative sources of funding as well and that's why I'm very keen to get the reclassification of the Housing Executive so it can borrow against its own assets."

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