200 Galliagh homes an important step in tackling Derry housing crisis: Eastwood

The start of work to build almost 200 new social houses in the Galliagh area of Derry is “an important step” in addressing the city’s housing crisis. The major construction project, the largest social housing project in the North in over a decade, is due to be completed by spring 2017. Mr Eastwood (pictured), who is chair of the Assembly’s All Party Group on Housing, said the new homes would help some of the 3,000 people currently deemed to be in housing stress in the city. He added: “The building of these homes will be a welcome step in the right direction in tackling Derry’s very real housing crisis. It will also provide a welcome boost to the local construction industry. “It’s important that other proposals in the Derry District Housing Plan and Local Housing Strategy 2014/2015 - which includes plans for almost 1,200 homes - are progressed without delay to end the long wait of those most in need,” he said. Mr Eastwood said more than 50% of people who called to his constituency office in Shantallow presented with issues relating to “housing stress” and that he was “all too aware” that behind the alarming statistics were “real people suffering very real stress.” Shantallow SDLP Councillor Brian Tierney said the new homes will provide a sense of hope for many people on the social housing waiting list. He said: “Almost daily I’m approached by families suffering severe stress over housing issues. I hear stories of children growing up in over-crowded temporary accommodation and being forced to move from home to home and to different schools while parents live in constant uncertainty.

“These 197 new homes will generate massive interest among a lot of people living in that situation. I look forward to the completion of the scheme as it will bring the long wait for a significant number of those worst affected to an end.”