A family-of-three sharing 21 jobs on Tiree could be forced to leave the island they love at the end of July unless they find a new home.
Time is running out for 30-year-old Louise Reid, her fiancé and sister, who currently share a privately rented property whose owners are returning to live on the island full-time.
Louise, who works as a dispenser at Tiree GP surgery and is a student nurse, has lived on the island since she was four. Her sister Megan, 28, is a janitor at the High School, and fiancé Richard works from home for the Met Office. They are all key workers involved in lots of other roles, helping keep their community safe and resilient.
Here is the full list:
They are all members of the five member Tiree Coastgaurd Rescue Team
One is a member of the six member Scottish fire and rescue team
One is a future nurse
Two are school janitors
One is a Met Office employee
One edits the island paper
One is a senior social care worker at Tigh a Rhuda
One is a meals on wheels volunteer
One is a solar volunteer,
One is a heart start volunteer,
One is a hospitality worker
Three are fully trained community first responders
One is a member of Tiree Medical Practice Staff
Three are British Divers Marine Life Medics
And importantly they are three people who "love this island very much and would like to grow and raise their families here," said Louise, whose plans included being a community nurse for Tiree once qualified.
She added: "We have explored every possible option on this island for accommodation, we are constantly out priced on anything that might become available to buy and with zero movement in the social housing stock we do not stand a chance amongst others who are in similar positions to ourselves.
"I am aware of at least three people who have similar points scoring on the social housing list and two are formally registered as homeless. This doesn’t seem fair or correct when there are a number of properties lying empty.
"In a mainland setting the deposit we have we could purchase a property outright, on Tiree it does not even touch the edges."
The cost of buying a house on Tiree is estimated at being seven times seven average wages on the island, said Louise, who is desperate to stay.
"There is a crisis here. There is no quick fix to this issue and although I believe there will be a solution in the future, sadly I think we will be long gone when it comes to fruition, along with others of a similar age group and demographic to ourselves. There will be a whole generation of people forced to leave Tiree due to this housing crisis, a generation who are the islands key workers and population growers," she said.
Louise is hoping that sharing their story might help find a place to stay.
Tiree Community Council will put the family’s plight on the next agenda to do its best to help, and secretary Dr John Holliday paid tribute to Louise for making such a powerful appeal, raising awareness of what is a constant problem that sees young people sofa surfing, living in caravans and in other unstable and unsatisfactory situations.
He said: "This is a big-hearted community and Louise’s is a wonderful household, they touch the hearts of so many different aspects of our community. I and many others will be disappointed if a solution isn’t found to keep them here."
About 45 per cent of the island’s homes are second homes, many of the new homes being built are also second homes. "There are houses available, we need to ask their owners for help," Dr Holliday said
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