Frustration is growing over new homes built in an area with serious housing issues being left empty.

The properties, in the Oldpark district of North Belfast, are understood to be have been finished later than expected.

But with the homes, next to Marrowbone Park, completed in December, concerns have been raised as to why people allocated the houses have yet to move in.

Paul McCusker, an SDLP councillor in the area, is calling on housing association Clanmil to act quickly and get residents moved in.

He says the “hold up” is down to an environmental report that is to be submitted to the Council before the development can be ‘signed off’.

He added: “Those waiting on their new home have been waiting far too long and Clanmill need to get these tenants moved in within the next number of weeks as many people are currently living in housing stress. Tenants are extremely frustrated as they have been receiving mixed messages from Clanmil regarding this delay and this needs resolved urgently.”

Clanmil Housing Group told Belfast Live the construction of the 22 new homes in the Oldpark in North Belfast had been expected to be completed in early Autumn 2018 and that they had “been allocated to people on the housing waiting list at that time”.

The Oldpark Clanmil houses have yet to be occupied

However, construction was not completed until December last year.

They added: “We are in regular contact with the people who have been allocated the new homes, keeping them up-to-date.

“As with most brown-field sites, part of the planning consent for the new homes required our contractor to complete remedial ground works on the site, which had previously been the location of a window blind factory.

“In order to sign off on the scheme, Belfast City Council Environmental Health has requested further detail on the remediation works that have been completed. Further tests have been carried out and a report will be submitted to the Council within the next week. We are grateful to Environmental Health for their continuing support.

“We appreciate that the families involved are eager to move into their new homes and we are working closely with our contractor and their environmental consultant to make this happen as soon as possible.”

North Belfast is widely recognised as having significant waiting list issues, with more people than any other part of Northern Ireland defined as being in housing ‘stress’.

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