Lone parents ‘falling down housing list’

ALMOST half of households on local authority housing waiting lists throughout the country are headed by a lone parent.

Frances Byrne, director of One Parent Exchange Network (OPEN) which represents 78 lone parent groups said: "Lone parents are going to keep on falling down the lists because of the way housing need is measured and the type of housing being built."

One way of dealing with the problem was to increase the points according to the length of time households are on the waiting list. Ms Byrne said lone parents had to wait between eight and 10 years for a local authority home.