Northern Ireland

North coast pensioner would be 'living in a tent' without charity help

Ricky Wright, Chief Executive of the Vineyard Compassion charity in Coleraine.
Ricky Wright, Chief Executive of the Vineyard Compassion charity in Coleraine. Ricky Wright, Chief Executive of the Vineyard Compassion charity in Coleraine.

A PENSIONER on the north coast has said he would be “on the sand dunes living in a tent” if a charity had not stepped in to help after he lost his home of 10 years.

The Housing Executive referred John (83) to the Coleraine-based Vineyard Compassion charity after his home was sold.

With more rental properties being sold as holiday homes, Vineyard says more pensioners are struggling to find new accommodation.

Speaking about his experiences, John told the charity: “So many private landlords are selling up. I never expected that this would be my story. I was a tenant for 10 years and was gobsmacked by the news that the house was for sale,” he said.

“If it hadn't been for my friends at Vineyard Compassion I would be on the sand dunes living in a tent."

Having never been on benefits before and with no experience of the social security system, he added that becoming homeless for the first time came as a huge shock.

Figures from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive show that 153 elderly people presented as homeless in the Causeway area in 2021/22, up from 110 in 2020/21 and 139 in 2019/20.

Of these, 119 were accepted as homeless compared to 82 in 2020/21. The latest figures are broadly in line with the pre-pandemic figure of 121 accepted as homeless in 2019/20.

Working with the Housing Executive, John has since been rehomed in an apartment as part of Vineyard’s housing scheme.

Ricky Wright, Vineyard Chief Executive, commented: “The housing situation on the north coast is deeply concerning and seems to be escalating fast. With increasing waiting lists for social housing at record levels and a rapidly decreasing number of affordable private rented accommodation, there are very limited options for people in housing crisis.”

He said that pensioners often face “extremely limited options” as many don’t have the ability to afford increasing rents of available properties, accounting for the recent rise in those presenting as homeless.

“We currently house three pensioners who came to us in the past number of months,” he said.

“The Causeway office of the Housing Executive are doing a fantastic job supporting those in housing crisis but are working with very limited resources coupled with growing demand. We work closely with NIHE who refer homeless individuals into our Compassion Housing scheme where we provide emergency accommodation within our 12 self-contained apartments.”