No sign of rats at woman's home says Housing Executive

Local woman Roisin McAnerney, a single mother of one, claimed she was forced to move from the home she shares with her toddler son because of the problem.

But the Housing Executive has issued a statement saying it had checked the woman’s home at Woodside.

A spokesperson said; “A Housing Executive team recently removed a large amount of debris from communal areas of properties at Woodside in Lisburn.

“During this clean up, no signs of rodent infestation were found at this location and no pests were found in Housing Executive properties in the area

“We always respond promptly to any reports of infestation from our tenants.”

Roisin (23) last week spoke of her ‘living nightmare’ as she battled with the Housing Executive to fix the issue she says has been ongoing since before she moved in, in July last year.

Roisin said: “I’m going out of my mind. It’s a living nightmare. I’m not even living there at the moment because I can’t,”

Councillor Poots said he was very disappointed at the Housing Executive’s response.

“I cannot understand how the Housing Executive have come to this conclusion,” he said. “Not only are there rats at Woodside, but I have seen pictures of the rats. I have asked the Housing Executive to meet with me a number of times over the past two weeks but I have been unable to get one.

“The previous tenant had to move out of the flat because of the rat infestation and refused to return.

“It’s all very well the Housing Executive saying that they moved the rubbish but they did not get pest control or any rat traps.

“This woman has been told she has to declare herself homeless but she does not want to do that, if the Housing Executive can just come out and sort the problem out, instead of simply brushing this under the carpet.”