Tommy Turley has lived in the property for more than 60 years

A third of the housing in the Village area, off the Donegall Road, is officially considered unfit for human habitation.

Pensioner Tommy Turley lives in a one-room property with an outside toilet, no bathroom facilities and no central heating.

He has lived for more than 60 years in the house, which is owned by a private landlord.

While nearby Housing Executive homes have been modernised, his house has been left to crumble.

Mr Turley believes the house has never been renovated because the rent is low.

Mr Turley still has an outdoor toilet

"If the landlord had come and done a lot of repairs and said, 'right I have to put your rent up,' there would be no problem because I was getting paid by the executive. The executive were paying him directly..."

"But I couldn't understand why he didn't do that."

Like Mr Turley, those living in squalid conditions are forced to spend days in shopping centres just to keep warm and walk to their local leisure centre for a shower.

One of the main problems is landlords have no obligation to make their properties habitable before they charge rent.

Landlords have no obligation to make properties habitable

The Housing Executive has a duty to pay rent on a means-tested basis but it is not required to check whether a property is habitable.

However, it has no power to restrict or refuse to pay rent, even if the property is not fit to live in.

Landlords, tenants and homeowners can apply for means-tested grants to improve their homes, but for many people living in deprivation in the Village, this is easier said than done.