Public housing: $17 million in damage but no evictions of dodgy tenants
THEY cost you millions in repair bills but not one of the state’s worst social housing tenants has been evicted since a one-strike policy was introduced.
NSW
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THEY cost you millions in repair bills but not one of the state’s worst social housing tenants has been evicted since a one-strike policy was introduced this year.
One man fell asleep with a cigarette in his mouth and burnt his Glebe property to the ground, leaving taxpayers with a $50,000 repair bill. To make matters worse, the smoker was not evicted because the fire was deemed to be an accident.
He contributed to a $17 million repair bill racked up in the past 12 months by dodgy tenants breaking walls and furniture and starting fires.
Tenants can now be immediately evicted for serious criminal offences such as drug manufacture or storing guns, but they still get three chances for property damage.
A Family and Community Services spokesman said tenants could only be kicked out for “malicious damage to property” and confirmed no one had been evicted under the new policies.
“Most social housing tenants are families, senior-citizens and people with a disability who take great pride in their homes and are law-abiding citizens,” he said.
The spokesman said 52 tenants had been cautioned since the new rules came into effect, with no evictions.
The state government tries to retrieve money for damage but tenants can rarely afford it.
The destruction of state facilities is exacerbating a growing public housing crisis.
More than 60,000 battlers are awaiting accommodation. Inner-city properties are in such high demand the average waiting time is more than a decade. Only two Sydney regions, Campbelltown and Wollondilly, have waiting times below five years. Applicants are waiting for more than two years on the Central Coast and in the state’s far west.
Social Housing Minister Brad Hazzard has announced plans to sell old estates to developers, who would be obliged to build private and public housing, but the move will create only 6000 extra dwellings.
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