Public housing hopefuls wait for years while homes sit empty

HUNDREDS of public housing units are sitting vacant awaiting repairs while more than 3000 Territorians wait for homes

Nearly 300 public housing units are sitting vacant awaiting repairs while more than 3000 Territorians wait for homes.

NEARLY 300 public housing units are sitting vacant awaiting repairs while more than 3000 Territorians wait for homes.

There are 262 public housing homes in varying states of disrepair sitting empty across the Northern Territory. At the end of October, there were 3078 people on the waiting list of a home.

The average wait time for a one-bedroom unit in Darwin is more than eight years. In Tennant Creek, that blows out to almost 11 years.

Wait times have fallen slightly in the past year for larger homes in most urban centres, but the shortest average wait — for a three-bedroom home in Palmerston — is still more than three years.

The Gunner Government recently committed $5 million to urban public housing repairs as part of an economic stimulus package aimed at propping up the faltering NT construction industry.

Treasurer Nicole Manison said she expected the cash would be divided equally among the regions dependent on population. Ms Manison said it was unknown how many homes would be receive repairs through the program.

In Alice Springs, one in 10 public housing units is empty.

NT Shelter chief executive Tammy White said the amount of public housing stock sitting unused was an “unfortunate situation”.

“Those homes would be very eagerly awaited by people on that waiting list,” she said.

Ms White said high rents in Darwin put private rentals out of reach for many Territorians on benefits or working in low paid jobs. She said many people chose to leave the Territory to find more affordable accommodation rather than sit around for years waiting for a unit to become available. Ms White said she hoped the new government would work with the community housing sector to free up more homes for low income earners.

According to NT Shelter, the NT has 15 times the national rate of homelessness, with 7.3 per cent of all Territorians classified as homeless or living in severely crowded homes.

One in four Aboriginal Territorians is homeless.

Originally published as Public housing hopefuls wait for years while homes sit empty