Coopers Court, Belfast: Residents to vacate building amid safety fears

Residents of an apartment block in Belfast have been told they must vacate the building by the end of April after "serious safety, design and construction issues" were identified.

Radius Housing operates Coopers Court apartments in the Cathedral Quarter.

About 30 people live in the apartments on Hill Street.

The housing association told residents a detailed inspection of the building was carried out "following recent issues with the mains water supply".

The housing association broke the news to residents in a letter, seen by the BBC, last month.

The letter added that "given the safety implications and the invasive and extensive nature of the works, we have no choice but to fully vacate the building".

Tenants were also told that "transfer assessments" would be carried out to help residents identify a new home.

Agnes McCullough, a tenant at the Coopers Court apartments, said she was shocked to hear the news.

"I'm not the only one," she told BBC News NI.

"There's many a person in here, the residents, they're also in shock.

"They're all wondering where we're going and where do we end up.

"And if we have to be out by April, I mean April - are you joking?"

Radius Housing told BBC News NI that its "staff have been providing advice and support to all tenants to assist them moving to a permanent home".

It added that it has "taken expert advice on the safety of tenants in the building and have put in place a number of enhanced safety measures whilst this re-accommodation process is under way".

"This includes a fire marshal who is now present on-site 24 hours per day, seven days per week, regular fire drills to support the 'evacuation first' procedures in the event of a fire incident and communication of this to all residents," a spokesperson added.

"Radius staff will be working with each tenant, to provide advice on permanent accommodation, welfare payments, compensation and other issues."

John McLean, CEO of Radius Housing, said: "We understand that this will be a difficult time for the tenants of Coopers Court, however, their safety is paramount. We will do all we can now and in the future to support the re-accommodation process."

In a statement, Belfast City Council said it had "not [been] made aware by the building owners or management company of any issues at Coopers Court and are not involved in undertaking any inspections at this site at present."