It is a disgrace to think that a vulnerable tenant living in a rundown social housing property could automatically have 30 percent of their income deducted irrespective of the state that their home is in, says Greg Warren, the Labor MP for Campbelltown.
He was speaking after he and Tania Mihailuk, the state opposition’s Social Housing spokesperson visited a social housing tenant in Airds to inspect the significant maintenance issues at her property.
The Labor Opposition is calling on the Baird Government to focus on the $330 million social housing maintenance backlog before it follows through on plans to automatically deduct rental payments from tenants’ welfare entitlements.
The Land and Housing Corporation, which owns and oversees the maintenance of government social housing properties, receives over 500,000 maintenance requests per year – around four per property.
“This is a heartless policy which will only make it even more difficult for those vulnerable members of our community struggling to make ends meet to cover their basic expenses for food and other household bills,” Mr Warren said.
“Here in Campbelltown we have one of the highest concentrations of social housing across the state, and it’s simply not good enough for local residents to be living in homes that are in need of urgent repair.”
Tania Mihailuk said that “if the Government is going to enforce itself as a landlord, it should act like a landlord and maintain the properties appropriately’’.
“If Mike Baird wants to play landlord then he should act like one,’’ Ms Mihailuk said.
“If the government is going to dock payments regardless of the maintenance that’s needed on the property then that’s just not fair.
“The effort to dock rental payments from welfare should be matched with a focus on clearing the maintenance backlog.
“The government is happy to ignore $330 million worth of leaking taps, burnt-out stove tops and faulty electricals, while also being the first in line to quarantine the livelihoods of the state’s most vulnerable people.”
