Housing crisis: Townsville social housing waitlist almost triples

The number of Townsville residents desperately waiting for social housing has almost tripled in five years, with more than 1000 locals now either homeless or at risk of being so.

The number of Townsville residents desperately waiting for social housing has almost tripled in five years, with more than 1000 locals now either homeless or at risk of being so.

Alarming new figures compiled by the Queensland Council of Social Services (QCOSS) show there were 4027 people on the social housing register in the Townsville City Council area — up from 1525 in 2017.

QCOSS CEO Aimee McVeigh said of those 4027 people, 1107 people had been identified as either being homeless or at danger of facing homelessness.

“Two thousand residents have been identified as having high or very high housing need,” she said.

“And of the 2053 applications, 624 households include a person with an identified disability,

and 692 are single-parent family households.

“We need solutions now.”

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh says we need a solution now for social housing in NQ. Picture: David Clark

Ms McVeigh said people were sleeping in cars and on the streets across NQ, while women and children have been staying in dangerous domestic violence situations because there is nowhere else to go.

It comes as the number of people seeking assistance has doubled this year at Townsville’s Homelessness Hub, with nearly 5000 people making contact since January.

The tight rental market in Townsville has also put added pressure on vulnerable families after the city reported record low rental vacancies at just 0.6 per cent in the March quarter.

Vincent mum of four, Jessica Carr, recently revealed she could soon be forced to live in a tent with her family after months of struggling to find a house.

The disturbing social housing figures come a fortnight ahead of Queensland’s Housing Summit.

“In two weeks’ time, we will be sitting down with the Queensland Government, local councils, industry bodies, and community services across the state to discuss the housing crisis,” Ms McVeigh said.

“Building more social housing across regional Queensland, including Townsville and North

Queensland is crucial if we are going to solve this crisis.

“We have also called on the Queensland Government to ensure regional Queensland is

included in the Housing Summit.”

She said QCOSS is calling for 5000 new social homes to be built across Queensland every year for the next ten years.

Originally published as Housing crisis: Townsville social housing waitlist almost triples