A petition has been launched in West Belfast calling on the Communties Minister to "address the housing crisis" in the area.
Set up by SDLP representative Paul Doherty, he says its focus is on reported empty homes in the constituency.
Paul says he's been in conversation with local people who have been on the housing waiting list for years.
He also says he was made aware of a local mum who was sleeping on a friend's sofa with a newborn because she had "nowhere to call home".
Speaking to Belfast Live, the West Belfast man said: "The petition we have launched is off the back of the figures we have obtained, but it is also off the back off my conversations with people and families in West Belfast.
"Last week there was a girl who had given birth to a child and she had nowhere to live - she was sleeping on her friend's sofa with a newborn. That is the every day stories we are hearing. When I put this petition up, it opened up the door for people to talk about their experiences.
"There are so many people sofa-surfing and living with parents with children.
"According to figures recently obtained by the SDLP, there are currently 683 empty homes in West Belfast while 3992 people are on on social housing waiting lists* and 3167 in housing stress.
"The most frustrating thing is, when you look at those figures and see that there are houses lying empty. In West Belfast, there are close to 4,000 on social housing waiting lists. As soon as I put this petition up, so many people were coming to me to talk about it.
"Housing has always been an issue, there's been a crisis for some time now. We need to put people first. Every man, woman and child has the right to live in a decent home.
"I have talked to families and teenagers. One said that when they were going through secondary school they hated hearing the school bell at the end of the day because they knew that every kid around them was going to a home, and they were going to a hostel or shared accommodation. That worries me, that really hit me. People are being failed."
A spokesperson for the Department for Communities responded to the SDLP petition on Friday.
"Minister Hargey is progressing the biggest reform of social housing in over 50 years," they said.
"This includes building more homes, where they are needed. Minister Hargey is committed to this revitalisation agenda with equality and rights the basis of her approach, and you can’t get more basic than the right to a home.
"The Minister has announced plans to deliver 100,000 plus homes as she launched her draft Housing Supply Strategy for consultation. The Minister has outlined how she wants at least a third of these homes to be social homes, of high quality and to meet a wide range of needs, including the needs of our ageing population, those with disabilities and our children and young people.
"The Department has carried out various initiatives to bring vacant property back into use as homes. An assessment of this is available here. As the Report sets out, most vacant properties are in private ownership and may or may not be in a habitable state.
"The Minister appreciates the benefits of bringing vacant properties back in to use as part of her wider plans to deliver more housing and will continue to explore the most appropriate options to do so."
Department of Finance spokesperson told Belfast Live that Land & Property Services have confirmed that 683 domestic properties in the Belfast West parliamentary constituency were designated as vacant in the rating system as at November 1 2021.
In terms of Housing Executive properties, there are 127 empty properties in Belfast West, 32 of which are 'Actionable Voids' and 95 deemed 'Non-Actionable Voids'.
A spokesperson for the Housing Executive explained: "Actionable voids are vacant properties vacant while in the process of being allocated/awaiting change of tenancy repairs. These may include properties deemed to be difficult to Let. Our target is to re-let these within 20 working days.
"Non-Actionable voids are properties that are not immediately available for allocation and are held vacant for operational reasons i.e. decanting purposes (where they are being used to house a tenant on a temporary basis pending works to their home), planned maintenance schemes, and properties which have been identified for sale/transfer or have approval for demolition."
Housing Executive figures show 3925 on the Social Housing Waiting List* in West Belfast with a number of new-build social housing schemes under construction or due to start in the general West Belfast area.
* The Social Housing Waiting List number changes daily.
You can view the petition here.
