There are four times more vacant housing trust homes than rough sleepers in the state

A Housing Trust resident has told of being surrounded by empty units, some being vacant up to several years while SA battlers are doing it tough sleeping on the streets.

Wayne Roberts at Novar Gardens, SA. Picture: Ben Clark

A Housing Trust resident who lives in a block surrounded by public housing units that have been empty for years says the state’s rough sleepers problem could be solved if they were housed in the huge number of vacant Trust homes.

At least 1450 public homes sit vacant across the state, some for as long as four years.

This number is more than seven times the 191 people recorded to be sleeping rough in and around the Adelaide CBD as of September this year.

It is also more than four times the 336 rough sleepers recorded across the state in the 2021 Census.

In some cases, they are simply ageing properties no longer fit for purpose. In others, they have been damaged in incidents such as firebombings, or have been trashed by previous tenants to the point they cannot be retenanted.

Novar Gardens Public Housing Empty Houses on James Melrose Avenue. Supplied

On Saturday, the Sunday Mail took a 90-minute walk around the patches of red and brown brick Trust units by the Glenelg Golf Club, off Morphett Rd, Bonython Ave and James Melrose Rd.

Amid the graffiti-strewn tin fences and piles of rotten furniture, one in every eight homes in a section known as Stotts Court was vacant. This includes three damaged units from a recent firebombing and three units which nearby residents said had been vacant for up to a year.

They said another unit had been empty for two years.

There were repeated firebombings in the block in September this year, but the perpetrator has never been caught. Supplied

Firefighters quickly extinguished the September 13 Stotts Court blaze, but the house and the one next to it was left unhabitable. Picture: Supplied

Stotts Court resident Wayne Roberts said despite the area’s problems, the floral, friendly neighbourhood had the potential to be a great one and he didn't understand why the units remained vacant for so long.

The Housing Trust said that their records for some of these properties showed seven out of 59 in Stotts Court were vacant.

“Of the seven currently vacant, two require a major upgrade (one was extensively fire damaged) before re-letting,” a spokeswoman said.

She said the Housing Trust was also being hampered by the general shortage of tradies “but we are doing all we can to complete maintenance as quickly as possible”.

“One (of the seven) homes is being allocated to a tenant who will move in shortly and the remaining four vacant homes are undergoing standard vacancy turnaround processes and will be allocated to new tenants as soon as possible,” she said.

Across from Stotts Court, on Morphett Rd, is a boarded-up property that residents said had been vacant for eight months.

The state government says the properties are aging and take a long time to repair, but local residents say that houses should not be left vacant for two years if they do not require major renovations. Supplied

A Morphett Rd resident said the government needed to act more urgently to “respond to the biggest challenge of our time and make these homes available to people”.

Around the corner are another two boarded-up Trust houses on James Melrose Rd.

Meantime, over in the eastern suburbs, there are two Housing Trust units in St Morris that have been vacant for more than four years after they were damaged by a gas bottle explosion.

Despite the housing crisis, officials said the units would not be ready to rent until the middle of next year.

When the Sunday Mail visited, the units were sealed off behind temporary fencing with no sign of any work being carried out.

Wayne Roberts at Novar Gardens, SA. Picture: Ben Clark

The units, in Williams Ave, were damaged in a gas bottle explosion in June 2020.

A spokesman for the Housing Trust said the damage had been extensive.

“Two properties at this address were fire damaged, with one requiring a complete rebuild, the other a major upgrade and repair,” the spokesman said.

“Works are progressing well and they will be ready for re-tenanting by the middle of next year.”

The South Australian Alliance to End Homelessness’ Adelaide Zero Project found 226 people were homeless in and around the Adelaide CBD in September, up from 217 the previous month.

Unit damaged in a fatal gas bottle explosion in 2020. Pictures Brad Crouch

Of the 226, 191 were sleeping rough.

The 2021 Census found 7408 people were homeless across South Australia, which included rough sleeping, supported accommodation, temporary accommodation and boarding houses.

The 1450 vacant Trust homes is nearly triple the number of public housing homes the Malinakus Government has promised to build as part of a $232.7 million pledge since the 2022 election.

A graffiti covered tin fence in Stotts Court. Supplied

Last month the Labor government said its commitment to build “564 new homes built across the state and major upgrades to 350 vacant properties” was a “once in a generation boost to public housing in the state”.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Nick Champion told the Sunday Mail the state had an ageing public housing stock, with dwellings on average 44 years old often in need of major maintenance.

“I have acknowledged there are too many vacant Housing Trust properties at the moment, which is why I initiated a review into the maintenance contracts to see if we could bring these houses back online as soon as possible,” he said.

“The government has received that review and is currently assessing its options.”