There are 3,004 households across the Central Coast on the waiting list for social housing, a situation exacerbated by a 77 percent drop in private rental vacancies.
An analysis of the NSW Department of Communities & Justice’s social housing waitlist and private rental vacancies between 2019 and 2020 shows that the Central Coast is worse off than other nearby region.
In Newcastle, there are 1,648 on the waitlist and there is 45 percent drop in private rentals; Hunter Valley recorded 1,569 and 52 percent drop; Mid North Coast recorded 2,912 and 73 percent drop; Northern Rivers 2,652 and 70 percent drop; and, the Illawarra recorded 2,438 on the waitlist and a 62 percent drop in private rental vacancies.
The Community Housing Industry Association NSW (CHIA NSW) is calling for urgent action to address the social housing waiting list.
It was pushing for substantial funding in the NSW Budget, which was handed down on Tuesday, June 22.
CEO of CHIA NSW, Mark Degotardi, said the list needed to be cleared and planning started for the surging demand over decades to come.
“People on the waitlist are paying unaffordable private market rents, particularly in regional areas, where vacancy rates of less than one percent have driven up private rental prices, leaving families scrambling to find a place to live,” he said.
“We are advocating for the families, retirees and key workers waiting five, 10 or more years for social housing and being crushed by the unstoppable housing market.
“This must include significant government funding for safe, secure and affordable housing,” Degotardi said.
The NSW Government’s 2021-22 Intergenerational Report has predicted that an additional 68,000 households will need social housing, meaning waiting lists will more than double by 2061.
“We have non profit community housing providers with shovel ready projects that could be developed in partnership with the NSW Government, starting today,” Degotardi said.
“In less than a decade, community housing providers have built thousands of new homes across NSW, created thousands of new construction jobs, and contributed $1.2B to the state’s economy.
“We can do much more with government support,” Degotardi said.
In August 2020, social housing provider, Pacific Link, opened a new building at Canton Beach, comprising 30 studio apartments, and in the same month construction started to transform a vacant lot in Beane St, Gosford, into a 41-unit social and affordable housing development.
The $15.3M Gosford building is part of the NSW Government’s Planning System Acceleration Program to help the state’s Covid economic recovery.
It forms part of the Government’s Future Directions for Social Housing, a plan to build more and better social housing that blends with local communities.
Sue Murray