Demand for public housing grows as government sells homes

Date
    November 15, 2014


Thousands fewer Sydney families are living in public housing, as demand grows and the government demolishes and sells homes just to keep the system afloat.

New figures reveal about 139,500 NSW households live in public housing, or 2300 fewer than two years ago.

The NSW government has demolished or sold about 6000 properties in the past four years, as its bill for repairs rises towards half a billion dollars.         

In the same period, the number of new homes the government builds each year has more than halved,  to 440 in the past financial year.

Hal Pawson, a Professor of Housing Research and Policy at UNSW, said the figures showed the state government was being forced to use more of the federal government's grants for building homes instead to pay for day-to-day repairs.

"The government is addicted to sales," he said. "Funding used to be used for investment in new housing, but over the past 10 years the growing deficit means none of that is available. They're having to use all of it just to balance the books.

"It means there's going to be fewer houses available."

Sale of public housing has been under way for a decade but reached a peak last year and will rise again in the coming two.

The housing waiting list grew about 3.5 per cent to nearly 60,000 this year; it will grow to more than 80,000 by 2016 according to projections.

And the shortage is hitting Sydney's major growth in the south-western suburbs the hardest, analysis by the state opposition shows.

About 670 more Bankstown families are seeking public housing now than three years ago but in that time the number of local houses available to them has fallen by about 220.

In Campbelltown there are 1400 fewer houses and about 130 additional families.

"Society's most vulnerable, the elderly, frail and low-income families are missing out," opposition housing  spokeswoman Sophie Cotsis said.      

Numbers on the waiting list represent about half those who need housing, according to the NSW Auditor-General's report in 2013.

Deputy CEO of the NSW Council of Social Services John Mikelsons is lobbying the state government to devote money from the privatisation of assets to new housing: "It is clear NSW is becoming less and less capable of meeting demand."

The sale of 206 homes at Millers Point alone is, on some estimates, likely to raise up to $500 million for government coffers.

Family and Community Services Minister Gabrielle Upton has refused to say specifically where it might be spent, except to guarantee it would go back into the social housing system. "We can reinvest the proceeds into more new homes," she  said.

Forecasts by the NSW Auditor suggested a total of 4000 homes may be up for sale in 2014 and following three years.

Mrs Upton said the government inherited a housing system with deep structural problems.

The minister said next year's budget allocated $121 million for new homes, and $491 million for property maintenance and upgrades, a 30 per cent increase on previous years.

"The budget of $121 million in new supply will see the commencement of 759 public housing dwellings and the completion of 443 dwellings," she said.

But Professor Pawson said it was questionable how much would be used to buy more houses.

"It's very notable that no clear commitment has been made," he said. "You can only draw the conclusion that the priority is entirely about keeping the system afloat".

He said federal government funding was not enough to bridge the gap between what poor tenants could pay and the cost of running houses.      

The government's maintenance bill last year hit $220 million and a further $180 million was spent on upgrades.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/demand-for-public-housing-grows-as-government-sells-homes-20141115-11nc5z.html#ixzz3JAZxgxjc

Not sure NSW could do that—they no longer have a Dept of Works, cause of a lot of problems.