Maria Atanacković first makes sketches of loose images that appear from somewhere in her memory. “Then I have to figure out how I’m actually going to make it.”
It can anger the landlord, and alert the council that it shouldn’t be paying to subsidise rent for such a place – and risk leaving the tenant homeless.
Peter Byrne was refused an adjournment he asked for on medical grounds. His landlord, after saying it hadn’t had time to review the case, was granted one.
Ciara Hill has lived without a working shower or toilet, with mould and a broken front door, and a lingering dread that she will end up back where she was a few years ago – homeless again.
The council is making smaller improvements now, while working towards a major regeneration sometime in the future. Residents say that’s just not good enough.
There’s a cohort earning too much for social housing, but too little to qualify for the Land Development Agency’s new cost-rental “affordable” housing schemes.
Councillors at a recent meeting said they still have concerns about how well the council is protecting tenants from neighbours engaged in serious intimidation and drug dealing.
If the prices are higher than promised, “It will be a massive betrayal for the local community, for first-time buyers,” says Social Democrats Councillor Paul Mulville.
