Campbelltown MP, Greg Warren, has slammed the Baird Government’s social housing plan for failing to include any affordable housing targets when the waiting list has reached an all-time high.
The Government’s Future Directions for Social Housing plan will also force thousands of social housing tenants into the private rental market in the likely event that a single-bedroom social housing dwelling is unavailable.
Thousands of existing dwellings will be demolished and private property developers will rebuild a mixed estate of private and social housing dwellings.
The plan does not include any affordable housing targets and relies on a 70:30 ratio favouring private dwellings.
Mr Warren also slammed the Government’s boast that it will build 23,500 dwellings when the total net gain of additional stock will be only 9,000—just 15 percent of the dwellings needed to reduce the current all-time high waiting list of 60,000.
The government’s plan also states that thousands of social housing tenants will be forced into the private housing market—particularly vulnerable single tenants.
Mr Warren also criticises the Government’s plan to transfer only the management of 35 percent of social housing dwellings to Community Housing Providers (CHPs) and not the full title as proposed by Labor. Transferring only management will deprive the CHPs of the benefit and flexibility of full ownership.
“This plan shows that once again this Government is putting profits before people,’’ Mr Warren said.
“This is going to be open slather for real estate developers and investors at the expense of the less fortunate in our society.
“With this plan the Baird Government plan fails to address the acute need for more affordable housing at a time when there are more than 60,000 applicants on the waiting list.”
