Social housing Cairns: Thousands wait for place to live while state-managed home sits empty

A languishing state-managed property in Manoora has been vacant for weeks despite thousands of Cairns people waiting for homes during a social housing crisis.

DESPITE a Cairns social housing crisis and thousands of people on a public housing waiting list, a three-bedroom state-managed property in Manoora has been vacant for weeks.

The boarded-up property on Enmore Street, described by a nearby resident as a “horrid mess” has been empty since January.

Overflowing garbage bins, scores of discarded beer cans in the garden shed and waist-high grass is evidence little has been done to prepare the house for a family in need of low-cost accommodation.

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Responding to a call for action on the Cairns public accommodation crisis, a Housing Department spokeswoman said the state was “committed to reducing homelessness by working collaboratively with numerous agencies to address the problem”.

Since March 2020, the Co-ordinated Housing and Homelessness Response ­initiative had supported more than 3500 households ­(including families and individuals) with emergency housing assistance.

“We have allocated $12.7m for 2021-22 for 17 specialist homelessness ­services within the Cairns ­region,” the spokeswoman said.

“These services provide immediate and transitional supported accommodation to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.”

Last financial year these services helped 3276 clients.

As of September 30 last year, 2439 applications had been made through the Queensland Housing Register, commonly known as the government housing wait list.

“Individuals and families on the housing register are assessed and prioritised for housing according to need, taking into account the person or family’s circumstances, their wellbeing, financial status and their ability to independently sustain a tenancy,” the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman confirmed the Enmore Street house was owned by the ­Department of Housing which was “actively managing both the tenancy and maintenance of this address”.

However, queries about why the house had been ­vacant for six weeks went ­unanswered.

The average wait for a two-bedroom unit in Cairns last month was 10 months, the department said.

As a tropical cyclone powered up off the coast of Cairns, one nearby resident called for the removal of mattresses and furniture dumped on the front veranda.

“Who is to blame when this stuff (blows) through the neighbour’s place?” the resident asked.

Originally published as Social housing Cairns: Thousands wait for place to live while state-managed home sits empty