Shauna’s story demonstrates the personal impact of social housing waiting times on people seeking homes in particular areas. It’s just one of the stories that lie behind the statistics of housing waiting lists.
Shauna McLarnon is a young Catholic mother from north Belfast with four children, living four storeys up in a two bedroom flat – “surviving, not living” is how she describes her situation.
Shauna is distraught. She is hoping for a house in Ligoniel, which would let her be nearer to her family for a support network and the provision of childcare, and she has been on a housing list for almost two and a half years.
She meets many of the criteria but does not have the number of points she would most likely need to qualify for a house in Ligoniel. Moving to a home more suited to her needs, and closer to her family, where her young children would be living at ground floor level, is her long-term goal, but the prolonged wait is taking its toll.
“I share a bedroom with Jenny-Louise, who’s 10 months old,” she says. “The other three children Daniel (7), Adam (4) and Jessica (3) share the other bedroom. There is extremely limited space in the flat for all that comes with having a young family – clothes, toys, books and so on. There is no access to a garden nor to any place for the children to play.
Shauna McLarnon is a young Catholic mother from north Belfast with four children, living four storeys up in a two bedroom flat – “surviving, not living” is how she describes her situation.
Shauna is distraught. She is hoping for a house in Ligoniel, which would let her be nearer to her family for a support network and the provision of childcare, and she has been on a housing list for almost two and a half years. She meets many of the criteria but does not have the number of points she would most likely need to qualify for a house in Ligoniel. Moving to a home more suited to her needs, and closer to her family, where her young children would be living at ground floor level, is her long-term goal, but the prolonged wait is taking its toll.
“I share a bedroom with Jenny-Louise, who’s 10 months old,” she says. “The other three children Daniel (7), Adam (4) and Jessica (3) share the other bedroom. There is extremely limited space in the flat for all that comes with having a young family – clothes, toys, books and so on. There is no access to a garden nor to any place for the children to play.
“My son Adam has recently been diagnosed with autism and needs his own space, a room of his own,” Shauna says. “He has sensory issues and can’t cope with the noise and stress of having everyone living on top of him. His behaviour has deteriorated because of it.”
“Living in such a wee flat up on the fourth floor is just awful,” she says. “Simple things, like trying to get the kids up and down to the flat, are terrible. There is a lift but it’s often out of order. I simply can’t manage the stairs with a buggy and four children and have to rely on my neighbours or sometimes random strangers just to get them home safely.
“I take the kids to visit my family and friends, just to get us out for a few hours, but getting the bus up to Ligoniel is very stressful. If I miss one bus I could be waiting at the stop for another 40 mins – try doing that with four kids on a main road in the rain!”
Every week Shauna checks to see if there are any developments in getting a house, but so far the answer has been no. “It’s hard!” she says. “I dream of getting a house with more space and maybe even a garden close to my family in Ligoniel. It would be like winning the Lottery. The kids and I need a proper place to call home – we need to live!”
Kathleen Kelly, a benefits adviser at Wolfhill Community Centre, who also deals with housing issues, said: “Shauna is among the worst cases of housing need I have at the minute, but unfortunately she is not the only single parent waiting on suitable housing in the area. It’s all too common in this part of Belfast.”