A nationwide scarcity of social housing means that some applicants can expect to wait more than 10 years for a home in most parts of Sydney.
A study by the UNSW City Futures Research Centre has revealed a 42 per cent drop in the number of households allocated social housing in the past three decades. Meanwhile, the number of applicants with the greatest need has soared by almost 50 per cent in the three years to 2021.
A social housing estate in Arncliffe that the NSW government was going to redevelop. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
The report found state and territory governments face “unenviable challenges in rationing a static or shrinking resource” while waitlists balloon.
An increasing number of people with the most urgent need for housing, exacerbated by the pandemic, means a family with less severe needs can expect to wait more than ten years for a three-bedroom property in most parts of Sydney.
“Once upon a time jumping from public housing to ownership was possible for thousands of people every year. Today that is almost non-existent,” said report lead author UNSW Professor Hal Pawson. “The private housing market has created an enormous gap between the income you need to get into the very bottom end of home ownership and the eligible income for social housing.”
City Futures’ research found strict criteria in NSW and Western Australia meant priority applicants were housed more quickly than elsewhere, but that led to longer waits for candidates with less complex needs.
In NSW, the proportion of social homes allocated to the highest priority households increased from 41 per cent to 60 per cent in the six years to 2021.
The Herald last year revealed NSW was falling behind states like Victoria and Queensland, which made unprecedented funding pledges for social housing construction in response to the pandemic. Victoria and Queensland will account for more than 60 per cent of the nation’s social housing construction, and 80 per cent of the net increase between 2021 and 2024.
However, national stock is set to grow by 30,000 homes over the next six years under the new federal Labor government’s $10 billion election pledge towards a Housing Future Fund.
