In its report, the Committee noted worsening housing affordability and evidence that NSW is experiencing a social housing crisis. Social housing is currently meeting only 44% of need, with the number of households on the waiting list for a social housing property expected to increase from 58,000 to 86,000 by 2016. The report observed that:
“Homelessness is rising, and sadly, more women, children and veterans are being represented in homelessness statistics. Alarmingly, overcrowding, couch surfing and sleeping in cars is becoming more commonplace and this is unlikely to change significantly unless the shortage in supply of social housing is promptly addressed.”
At a time of rapidly increasing need for social housing, the sale of public housing properties as a means of addressing budget shortfalls attracted criticism. A key example is the proposed sale of the Sirius building in Millers Point.
The Committee recommended that all proceeds from the sale of public housing properties be used for the purpose of creating new social, affordable and public housing. NSW Family and Community Services has previously stated that sell-off proceeds will be “reinvested in the social housing system across NSW”, but it has not indicated what portion will be used for new housing.
The deterioration of existing public housing properties, and the alarming levels of disrepair that some tenants must live with, formed a key part of the report. The Committee recommended an independent review of policies and systems related to maintenance of public housing. In another recommendation, the committee called for NSW Treasury to ‘publicly identify what funding is required to address the maintenance backlog for public housing properties.’
Other positive recommendations included:
- ‘That the Department of Family and Community Services investigate strategies to prevent applicants being removed from the social housing wait list if they do not update their details.’
- ‘That Housing NSW suspend the vacant bedroom charge and examine more effective ways to ensure a greater match between households and dwelling size.’
One of the recommendations of concern to RLC is that existing punitive measures against tenants who damage their properties be reviewed, and a ‘three-strike’ policy against tenants be investigated. RLC’s submission had urged consideration that such measures might unfairly impact tenants with mental illnesses.
The summary of the final report can be found here and the full report is here. RLC’s submission to the inquiry can be found here.
