Wicklow family consider living out of ‘storage unit’ due to housing crisis

• Yesterday 07:54

AWicklow family has opened up about their recent housing struggle, revealing that they’re considering renting storage units to sleep in following their impending eviction.

Mother-of-two Teresa claims the family were handed their notice just last April, after 11 years of making the property their family home.

Speaking on their struggle to find a property within their budget, revealing that the looming fear of eviction is hanging over their heads like a dark cloud.

A Wicklow family has opened up about their recent housing struggle, revealing that they’re considering renting storage units to sleep in following their impending eviction.© Provided by Extra.ie

‘We’ve been looking since then and haven’t found anywhere,’ Teresa told Newstalk , ‘It’s hanging over your head the whole time.’

‘It’s getting very worrying for us all now, obviously, as the time approaches because we’ll have to be out now the beginning of June.’

Teresa went on to explain that their lengthy notice period was as a result of their many years in the property; ‘We fell in-between the eviction ban, it didn’t come into play for us.’

Mother-of-two Teresa claims the family were handed their notice just last April, after 11 years of making the property their family home. Pic: Shutterstock© Provided by Extra.ie

‘You’ve no stability when you’re renting at all, as I’ve come to realise. Up to now you would have had a pick and choose of where to live, really… and now you’re looking at anything.’

The mother-of-two went on to express her frustration at the lack of available services for people in her situation nationwide.

‘There’s no emergency accommodation, I’ve been told, this side of the county,’ she said. ‘We’re waiting to hear from someone from the homeless department of Wicklow County Council.’

Speaking on their struggle to find a property within their budget, revealing that the looming fear of eviction is hanging over their heads like a dark cloud. Pic: Shutterstock© Provided by Extra.ie

‘We have family, but they’re not in the county. So it could mean sleeping on couches, but that’s disrupting the children’s schooling. [That’s] my main thing I don’t want to do – my lad is going in and will be doing Junior Cert next year.’

‘It’s hard – nobody really needs to, and they shouldn’t have to, go through that in this day and age. Everybody should have the stability of a roof over their head, and knowing that they have that roof. At this stage we’re looking at storage units; that we put our stuff into storage.’

‘We’ve built a home here, we’re in the community and this is where we want to be,’ she added. ‘We had looked further afield and there’s still nothing – there’s nothing that’s within a budget.’