Barra housing shortage hits home

Mairi says that, reluctantly, they have little option but to leave the island.

A young couple who came to the islands to study and returned to live and work on Barra now face having to leave by June due to the chronic housing shortage with over 40 on the waiting list.

Their story highlights the extent to which the lack of available housing is the fundamental issue leading to loss of population in areas where there is a high demand for holiday homes.

When Mairi Voinot – originally from Lochgilphead – secured employment with Buth Bharraigh last year, it was held up as a success story by Highlands and Islands Enterprise for their Graduate Support Scheme.

Mairi had been appointed as tourism development officer with Bùth Bharraigh – the community hub in Castlebay, with a remit to work with businesses to develop tourism services. She is also a talented fiddle player.

Her husband, Chris Ferrie, whom she met when they were students on the UHI traditional music course in Benbecula, started his own business, OrramanLeather, which has operated successfully for two years.

The couple have a two year old son. When Mairi took the Bùth Bharraigh job, they secured the rental of a house in Creachan and put their names on the Hebridean Housing Partnership waiting list.

Originally, the rental was supposed to run till November last year but was extended to June. Meantime, they have been unable to find accommodation beyond that date and their hopes of securing one of six HHP houses now being built have also been to no avail.

They were seventh on the waiting list but after the houses were allocated, a phone call to HHP established they are still in exactly the same position. Unless a solution presents itself, they will leave Barra in June.

Mairi said: “We were advised to make ourselves homeless but I am not prepared to sleep in a car with our young son, even to improve our chances of getting a house”.

She said they had tried every vacant house they knew of without success. “A few that would have been available are now being let out to the NHS for locum doctors and dentists.

"So between the NHS and holiday homes, it’s not an easy task to find a house to live in long term”.

Mairi said she was making their plight public so that “even if it doesn’t help us, it might help others by highlighting the scale of the problem”.

A statement from HHP said: “Any applicant who is homeless or threatened with homelessness should approach CNES Homeless Service for assistance. We will always advise applicants of this where appropriate.

“Applicants who have been offered housing in the new development at Rathad na Ceardaich will remain on the waiting list until they have accepted the offer on completion of the properties and have signed the Tenancy Agreement. At present offers will have been provisionally accepted.

“There are currently 41 applicants on our waiting lists for Barra and Vatersay. This figure includes seven applicants seeking to move from one property to another”.

Barra councillor Iain MacNeil said: “The housing crisis on Barra has to be addressed and this case illustrates the scale of the problem which is driving people away from the islands when we are supposed to be trying to increase the population, not reduce it further”.