The Social Development Minister is being urged to address the housing crisis issue in L'Derry immediately.

SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood said the party is seeking a radical new build and retrofit programme that will provide fit-for-purpose accommodation and create employment.

Mr Eastwood said: "Under the watch of successive DUP ministers in the Department for Social Development there was a 60% rise in the number of people in housing stress in our city.

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"According to recent figures for Derry there were in excess of 3,300 people on the waiting list for social housing with more than 2,300 of them living in housing stress in 2014. The minister must realise that these are not just statistics, they are real families facing very real crisis. These are people who are at their wit's end waiting for proper living conditions.

"The most recent Derry District Housing Plan and Local Housing Strategy proposed the development of 1,194 and was rightly welcomed as a positive move. However, that will not in itself address Derry's much greater housing need."

The SDLP is calling again for a radical programme of new builds and retro fitting for old properties.

(CD/MH)