The state’s advocacy body for low and moderate-income housing consumers has expressed disappointment that the NSW state budget for 2005-06 promises little hope for people looking for affordable rental housing.
‘We welcome a capital injection of $20 million to the Department of Housing to contribute towards its operational sustainability, a plan to address a $650 million backlog in maintenance work, and a net increase in the supply of public housing, of some 1500 units, over 10 years. But it’s a case of too little, too late’, said executive officer of Shelter NSW, Mary Perkins.
‘The real test for the portfolio is the extent to which public and community housing meets unmet consumer demand now and over the next ten years. The modest increases in supply of social housing stock will not dint the 78,000-person waiting list for social housing or go anywhere meeting future need’, she said.
In addition, we will not have any measure of unmet need, because recently announced policy changes ‘reshaping public housing’ change the eligibility criteria for admission to the public housing waiting list. These changes more tightly ration allocation, and will reduce the waiting list effectively hiding the demand for affordable secure rental housing.
While we acknowledge that many of the funding problems leading to the decline and rundown of the public housing system can be sourced to decisions made by the Commonwealth government, we also note that this is a time of relative economic prosperity. The state has benefited from the property boom that has contributed to the housing affordability problems experienced by many. People on low incomes, renting their homes, should get a better deal.
Contact:
Mary Perkins, Executive Officer – 0419 919 091 (m), 9267 5733 ext.14
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