Elizabeth Weir: 'I have to make sure every day I am not going into financial crisis'
Elizabeth Weir and her daughter Alice at home in Ennis, Co Clare; Elizabeth says of the 28 properties on the market in Ennis, only 11 would be suitable for her family and the lowest price is €175,000. Picture: Eamon Ward
Elizabeth Weir, 29, is a single mother who works in the financial services industry and lives in Ennis, Co Clare; accessing the property ladder is the biggest issue facing her family.
"It's a looming worry of 'how am I going to do this?'," says Elizabeth.
"I put money every month towards my daughter's (Alice, 12) university fund and into emergency savings.
"What are single parents going to have to do to get off the hamster wheel of always renting? You feel almost excluded from ever purchasing a house."
According to a report published by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Economic and Social Research Institute last month, lone parents and their children account for 53% of all homeless families in Ireland.
The report found that they are also much more likely to experience poor housing than other household types.
Owning a home is a very important step for Elizabeth, especially as a single parent.
"Getting yourself on the property ladder gives you some feeling of stability under your feet, especially as a single parent," she says.
"It makes everything feel firmer."
Elizabeth is extremely diligent with her earnings as well as her savings, as she has no one else to rely on should a crisis arise:
"I have to make sure every day I am not going into financial crisis. And I am someone who works really hard," says the mother-of-one.
While some lone parents face the struggle of juggling the cost of childcare against their income, Elizabeth's situation is such that she can work from home three days a week and commute to Limerick on the other two.
However, where lone parents of younger children may be struggling with the childcare and the salary trade-off, Elizabeth is now focused on buying a home for her family, as her daughter is now 12.
"Looking at properties to purchase in Ennis right now — there are 26 available, and 11 of those would be suitable for us," she says.
"The lowest price is €175,000, and if we take that as the price that it will sell for, and we both know that is unlikely to happen with so many people in the market.
"For me as a first-time buyer, I'll need €18,000 for a 10% deposit.
"It feels impossible to reach that goal, yet there is a projection of a 12% increase on this year's property prices and 9% the year after, and 9% the year after that," says Elizabeth.
"Can you point me to someone whose salary is going to go up by 30% in that same period?"
As someone in the financial services industry and as a single mother, she suggests several key things that the Government can do to improve the situation for other parents in her situation.
She thinks that the tax band needs to be widened, so a lone parent is not being taxed at the higher rate of 40% once they reach €39,300, especially as they cannot avail of the tax credit available to married people or civil partners.
When it comes to housing and the help-to-buy scheme, she says it also needs to be widened to include second-hand homes, not just new builds.
Owning a home is integral to her family's future security and something that will improve her quality of life as a single parent.
"You never stop worrying because if you are in a hole, you're the only one who can dig yourself out," she says.
"And that can feel quite lonely and quite worrying, especially because the Government doesn't seem to relate to it.
"I am a single parent working and doing my best, and I still feel unsteady."
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