The stigmas surrounding social housing in Northern Ireland must be challenged, two local housing experts have said.
With anti-social behaviour, crime and 'people with problems' being attributed to social housing estates, the bodies that create them, are debunking those myths.
Growing up in social housing, Housing Executive's Acting Director of Housing Services, Jennifer Hawthorne says she feels passionately about where she came from, and that others should too.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, Jennifer explained her role within the Housing Executive.
"I have the very great privilege of doing all the landlord work to look after our tenants and the properties," she said.
"It is a very important job, which I am honoured to do, to serve those 80,000 tenants. We are one of the largest landlords on these islands and we used to be over 200,000 properties and the house sales policy has seen well over 50% of our houses being bought by sitting tenants.
"If you look at a housing estate, effectively what you are looking at is a mixed tenure estate. There is hardly a Housing Executive estate that wouldn't have a significant level of owner occupation within it and that of course had led to a very mixed tenure - in all senses in terms of those traditional large housing estates.
"We have got 40,000 people on the waiting list in Northern Ireland looking to secure a Housing Executive or Housing Association tenancy. There is no doubt that there is a need for a social housing provider at scale."
A poll of 507 adults in 2020 commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) in partnership with Professor Roger Awan-Scully of Cardiff University has revealed that stigma around social housing remains a "persistent theme in Northern Ireland".
The results found that social housing continues to have a degree of ‘image problem’ among many people in Northern Ireland.
It read: "As is common practice in social surveys, the poll carried out by Deltapoll asked for respondents to indicate their level of agreement with quite pointed statements on social housing".
That included:
"I would suggest that the figures are of a particular poll at a particular time," Jennifer continued.
"Certainly the evidence we have is social housing is incredibly popular in Northern Ireland. It is incredibly necessary and people who are living in those estates are very proud to be living in them."
"Interestingly, we run polls every year and we have 89% of our tenants who are satisfied with our neighbourhood, we have 76% who are proud about their neighbourhood and general area and 85% who are satisfied with the quality of their home.
"People maybe have a perception of a social housing area or a social tenant, where in fact if they look at the reality of what is some of the best housing in Northern Ireland.
"I wouldn't agree with that perception and having worked for many, many, many years in the Housing Executive, I have come across great people and brilliant wee palaces. The homes that people have and the pride that they have in them.
"As someone who came from a Housing Executive estate, I know only too well how important it is, and the kindness to my family, how the community school in my estates supported me. I worked in the wee SPAR when I was at school ad it was just an incredibly bonded community and I think you go far and wide to try and find somewhere as good as that."
Similarly to Jennifer, Carol McTaggart grew up in a social housing home and says there were times when she was made to feel there was something inferior about her home and community because they lived in social housing.
Carol is now the Clanmil Housing Group Chief Executive and told Belfast Live her upbringing gave her the drive and passion to carry out her work today.
"It's scary that in modern Northern Ireland, in 2022 we have over 40,000 on the waiting list for a social home.
"When you think of the impacts that home has on providing us with shelter and making us feel safe, somewhere where we can put down roots but also where we can do our work and educate our young people.
"It is scary that in Northern Ireland we don't value social housing like we do other public services and yet the number of people who are in need is just growing.
"For me, having grown up in social housing, I grew up in The Troubles and my social home kept me safe and my community around me, putting their arms around me, that sense of being proud of where you live.
"I am passionate about social housing and always will be - what more can I give people than the gift of a home? My background does give me that drive to help people. It has formed who I am.
"Personally, it has driven my passion about the importance of housing. Our tenants are people like you and I, why should anyone be defined by what they can afford? Why are we not defined by who we are and the contributions we make?
"On reading the poll results that show the stigma around social housing in Northern Ireland; when we look at society, problems with neighbours are not always in social housing estates. It can happen in private rented accommodation and in owner occupied homes.
"I do think that we need to have an honest conversation now. We should not be defined by the fact that our parents cannot afford to buy a home of their own.
"If we all work better together, we can all live well, flourish and thrive. Problems don't just happen in social housing estates, they happen everywhere.
"And to those people who live in social housing estates, a mentor of mine a long time ago said that you should never be ashamed of where you come from and to always believe you can be anything you wanted if you were prepared to work for it."
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