Clovelly Park homes acquired for delayed Torrens to Darlington project stay vacant and fenced off despite SA rental crisis

Houses that are vacant and fenced off after being seized for the delayed Torrens to Darlington road project would be rented out in a new plan to help alleviate SA’s housing crisis.

Vacant homes that have been acquired for the delayed Torrens to Darlington road project would be rented out to help alleviate South Australia’s housing crisis, under a plan put forward by the state opposition.

But the state government says it has already implemented the idea, and most acquired homes are unavailable because they are either due to be demolished or still occupied by the original owners.

Six properties at Glandore will be made available for rent in the coming weeks.

Homes seized at Clovelly Park and Glandore had originally been earmarked for demolition from the end of this year, however it was recently announced the project start date would be pushed back by at least a year to 2024 instead of the initial 2023 plan.

They are among at least 393 properties that will be acquired by the government to make way for the project.

Dozens of people have come forward recently detailing their painful experiences of trying to find a rental in South Australia.

Opposition social and community housing spokeswoman Michelle Lensink said six vacant, fenced-off properties had been identified on York Ave at Clovelly Park.

The state opposition has identified several empty fenced-off homes on the same street at Clovelly Park. Picture: Supplied

The state opposition has identified several empty fenced-off homes on the same street at Clovelly Park. Picture: Supplied

“Repurposing these perfectly good homes to address our housing crisis would be nothing short of a winter miracle for people desperate for a roof over their heads,” she said on Tuesday.

“With almost 400 properties already earmarked for acquisition and possibly more to come, this is a short-term no-brainer to get South Australians off our streets and into a combination of social and rental housing.”

However, a government spokeswoman said those six properties were uninhabitable and would be demolished in two months’ time.

Michael, who owned one of the properties at Clovelly Park and did not wish to give his last name, told The Advertiser he moved out at the end of May following acquisition.

“We’ve had to move up to Happy Valley because all of the values down here just went through the roof and we couldn’t afford it,” he said.

He said the home was left in a liveable condition but it has since been wrecked.

“Now that we’ve moved out, people have moved in and trashed the place,” he said.

“All the pipes have been taken.”

Of the 119 properties that have so far been acquired, 13 at Clovelly Park will be demolished and 33 are still occupied by either original owners, who have been allowed to stay free of charge until they find another home, or by renters in cases where the home had been used as a rental.

At Glandore — the northern end of the southern tunnel — 39 houses are still occupied and six will be made available for rent, according to figures supplied by the government.

The state opposition has identified several empty fenced-off homes on the same street at Clovelly Park. Picture: Supplied

The state opposition has identified several empty fenced-off homes on the same street at Clovelly Park. Picture: Supplied

Deputy Premier Susan Close said “the Opposition seems to have come up with an idea that’s already happening”.

“(The homes) are being made available for rent and, in fact, a lot of the houses still have people living in them rent-free after we purchased them while they’re working out what house they can afford to buy to move into,” she said.

“We’re not talking about very many houses. What we need to do is get to grips with the larger housing crisis.”

Dr Close said the government had committed to boosting public housing stock by building 400 new homes and fixing hundreds more, which had been sitting vacant under the previous government.

“It’s not an issue that’s going to be solved quickly or easily,” she said.

“But one of the methods that we’ve adopted ... is making sure that we have a greater supply of housing to ease the pressure on those people who are most disadvantaged.”

The government has not ruled out further property acquisitions to clear a path for the Torrens to Darlington project, which is the final stretch of the North-South Corridor.

A reference design for the 10.5km stretch was released by the former government late last year, but current Transport and Infrastructure Minister Tom Koutsantonis has flagged major changes to the plans.

Mr Koutsantonis has said he intends to lower or remove elevated roadways at Anzac Hwy and West Hindmarsh, and said an “overly optimistic and unrealistic” timeline set by the previous government was the cause of project delays.

Vincent Tarzia and Michelle Lensink outside the fenced-off homes on York Ave at Clovelly Park. Picture: Tom Huntley

Opposition transport and infrastructure spokesman Vincent Tarzia, who has rejected that claim, said delays to the project would mean people who access the vacant homes would have “plenty of time to make other housing arrangements”.

“Imagine the relief you’d feel knowing you have a roof over your head for a year or maybe more,” he said.

Under the new timeline, the project is not due for completion until 2031.

Originally published as Clovelly Park homes acquired for delayed Torrens to Darlington project stay vacant and fenced off despite SA rental crisis