Case study

VIOLETA Savickiene (49) lives with her granddaughter and three adult children in a three-bedroom home in Balbriggan, Co Dublin. She adores having her family with her, but hopes one day there will be an affordable housing option for her children.

An art teacher at Flemington Community Centre, her home is pristinely kept and calm. Beautiful paintings she has crafted hang on the kitchen wall, which doubles as her working area. The garden is picturepostcard perfect.

While family comes first, she says her adult children cannot afford to move out, given the high cost of renting. The family must live under one roof, and work together to create the best home possible.

“There are positives and negatives to living together,” Ms Savickiene said. “We have dinners together and we share laughter and having my family around me means I’m never lonely. I think it’s really important to stay positive. We all work together to make the best family atmosphere.

“My 26-year-old daughter, the mother to my granddaughter who’s one-and-a-half, works full-time and I know she really wants a place of her own. But the price of rent means that’s just not possible. She has the little one to look after and there is no affordable housing for single parents in the city.

“My son (22) and daughter (20) go to DIT and as they’re students, rent is not an option. I’m lucky that I’m self-employed and I can help out with minding my granddaughter sometimes. I love my job, and art keeps me happy. I can’t imagine how hard it must be for families who maybe don’t get on and who work in jobs they hate. That would make the situation very tough.”

She says the Government needs to introduce an affordable housing scheme for workers grappling with high childcare costs. In the meantime, she encourages her family to save in the hope that one day they’ll own their own homes.