Family Continues Fight for Accommodation against Belfast Housing Executive

At 7am on the 28th April a family of three was evicted from their home on Clovelly Street by the PSNI. The McCrudden family consisting of Caitríona, Lisa, and three year old Cillian were in a struggle to have the housing executive accommodate them after Caitríona’s mother had died. Caitríona was the sole carer of her late mother and sought to remain in the house under the NIHE succession policy.

Speaking about the event, Lisa McCrudden stated "My mum lived here for the past 17 years. This is the house I was raised in and my own son. My mum should have had the right to succeed this house as a statutory succession.”

After an update in NIHE succession policy in September 2024 Caitríona could have been granted succession. However, the social housing body refused her succession.

Caitríona is a member of CATU, Ireland’s national tenant’s union who were unable to access the area due to the street being blocked off by the PSNI.

CATU told Aontacht media “It is illegal for police to be involved with evictions in this part of the world, but even if we skip over this fact, not one woman officer was present and no duty of care was shown.” 

A member of PPR (Participation and the Practice of Rights) and CATU told Aontacht Media “So we've been asking the Housing Executive for the last number of years and it sort of culminated with the violent eviction that we saw on Tuesday, which involved 10 armed police officers, around 4 armoured police vehicles, masked men, unmasked court officers forcibly removing this family and their possessions from the house. We as a community completely do not stand for that.”

Local resident Karen told Aontacht Media that several disabled people live in the area who were affected by the eviction, stating “Everybody was just afraid”.