Pregnant woman left ‘couch surfing’ after being evicted by council from mother’s house
Limerick City and County Council has also warned her mother they will be monitoring CCTV footage in the area to make sure her daughter does not stay in the house.
Rachel Cribbin, 29, who is expecting her seventh child in less than eight weeks, said the local authority warned her mother, Pauline Cribbin, it could seek possession of the property through the courts if she, her partner, and two of her six children continue to live there.
“We genuinely don’t have anywhere to go,” said Rachel. “No one is willing to help us. We have been to everyone and anyone who can, but we’re going around in circles.
“I’m due to give birth in early October, but I’ve been told I could go into labour any day now as it’s a high-risk pregnancy.
“This was my family home nearly all my life — now I’m not even supposed to stand outside the gate.”
The couple is in receipt of disability allowance but said they can not afford to rent in the city as the prices were “absolutely scandalous”.
For the past two weeks, the couple and two children have been couch-surfing at the homes of friends, and say they have been unable to get assistance from housing organisations, despite the seriousness of their situation.
Rachel said her partner, Dan Broadleday, who is from the UK, sleeps on the floor and her one-year-old son Daniel sleeps in his buggy, while her four-year-old daughter Abby sleeps with her on any available couch they can find.
The council, in a letter dated July 29, advised Pauline Cribbin, of Shanabooley Rd, Ballynanty, that she is in breach of Section 4 of the letting agreement by allowing daughter, her daughter’s partner, and two children live in the three-bedroom house without permission.
But Rachel, whose four other children reside elsewhere, said she has lived there nearly all her life.
The council also complained that under Section 10 and Section 13 of the letting agreement that Rachel was keeping a dog at the property, which caused a nuisance to neighbours due to noise.
The authority ordered Rachel and Dan to leave the property by August 3, and her mother “not invite them or allow [them] to remain on any part of the dwelling, curtilage or garden”.
It also warned Mrs Cribbin that, under the agreement, if she leaves the property for longer than six weeks, she has to receive written consent from the council. The council expressed a belief she had travelled to Australia for more than six weeks, but her daughter said she was there for five weeks.
“The council will monitor the situation by all means available, including but not limited to CCTV,” states the letter from a tenancy enforcement officer.
One of her other children is staying with a godmother, and others are with former partners. Rachel believes if she had her own home, they could all live together.
There are now more than 4,400 people on the council’s housing waiting list.
“Limerick City and County Council does not comment on individual cases, as it believes it is not appropriate to discuss the personal circumstances of any housing applicant publicly,” said a spokesperson in a statement.
“The local authority makes every effort to house people who are on the housing waiting list in an efficient manner and in accordance with the provisions of national and local policies.”
