Two state welfare bodies have expressed alarm at the State governments ‘plan for reshaping public housing’ released yesterday by the premier, Bob Carr MP, and the minister for housing, Joseph Tripodi MP.
The package is a further step towards public housing becoming a marginalised housing option and does nothing to address the bigger challenge of expanding the provision of affordable housing for those ineligible for social housing assistance, according to the NSW Council of Social Service and Shelter NSW.
‘The plan runs counter to other elements of the government’s social policy, like encouraging social mix and strengthening communities’, according to the NCOSS director, Gary Moore, and the Shelter NSW executive officer, Mary Perkins.
The organizations have rejected key elements to the plan.
The proposed change to the eligibility criteria involves explicitly assessing an applicant for social needs to be eligible for housing assistance. This will reduce the diversity of the social profile of the Department of Housing’s tenants by increasing the proportion with special needs.
‘The change will compound problems associated with concentrating people with complex needs in one form of housing. Already, 53% of new allocations are to people with special needs and 27% of new allocations are on the basis of greater need (e.g. homelessness)’, Mr Moore said.
The proposed change to duration of leases for new applicants will end the security of tenure that makes this form of housing more suitable than private rental for many low-income and disadvantaged people. Department of Housing staff will be given the power to decide that tenants who have met all their obligations no longer need assistance, based on criteria that are unclear.
This change will create a churning of tenants in between private rental, public housing, and homelessness, without increasing the overall supply of public housing.
This change will discourage people from improving their employment situation and entrench the ‘poverty trap’ aspect of public housing.
This change will create more and new demands on welfare services to assist tenants being evicted from public housing at their end of their fixed-term leases.
This change will discourage people from putting down roots in their neighbourhoods and contributing to community life and building social capital.
The proposed change to rent-setting for ‘moderate’ income earners, water charging, increased claw back of family payments and setting the rate for market rents are happening so that the Government can improve the poor quality of much of the current housing stock. Successive governments have neglected this issue but the plan means that current tenants are meeting the cost of promised action.
‘More than 90% of the current tenant population have a social security payment as their primary source of income. Even finding $5 a week to pay for water bills or losing more of their family payments in higher rental charges, will be a big ask for many households’, Ms Perkins said.
The NSW Council of Social Service and Shelter NSW called on the Government to reconsider the plan during its mooted consultations with tenants and community organizations.
Contacts:
Gary Moore, Director, NSW Council of Social Service – 0407 567 408 (m); 9211 2599 (w)
Mary Perkins, Executive Officer, Shelter NSW – 0419 919091 (m); 9267 5733 (w)
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