Millers Point public housing sell-off should fund new homes with 59,000 people on waiting list, says Anglicare

WITH more than 59,000 people on the public housing waiting list, building 1500 new properties from the Millers Point sell-off is not enough, a social welfare charity says.

Public housing sell off: 11 Lower Fort St, Millers point sold for $3.95 million in September 2014.

MONEY raised by selling harbourside public housing in Millers Point needs to be spent on new dwellings in areas with long waiting lists, social welfare charity Anglicare says.

The State Government has raised $38 million from the sale of 16 of the former public housing properties in Millers Point.

The government will sell 293 properties in total, which could lead to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Opposition social housing spokeswoman and Banksto­wn MP Tania Mihailuk said the government needed to say how much would be red­irected into new dwellings.

FIGHT TO SAVE MILLERS POINT RESIDENTS FROM EVICTION

SOUTH WEST SYDNEY RESIDENTS WAITING 10 YEARS FOR HOUSING

“(They must) declare how much has been raised from the Millers Point sales and what percentage of that has been redirected to new housing stock,” she said.

Social Housing Minister Brad Hazzard.

Opposition social housing spokeswoman Tania Mihailuk.

The Department of Family Services states that the Millers Point sales will fund 1500 new social housing dwellings across NSW.

That includes 16 dwellings in the next year in Condell Park, Padstow and Yagoona.

“This highlights the significant impact of the Millers Point sales program on increasing the number of new social housing dwellings in NSW,” a department spokesman said.

But many believe the number is far too low considering Canterbury-Bankstown has more than 4500 people on a waiting list for public housing.

Anglicare Sydney said there were more than 59,000 households on the waiting list, with some people waiting for more than 10 years to secure public housing.

There has been opposition to the sell-off of public housing in Millers Point.

Canterbury state Labor MP Linda Burney said some people had been waiting more than 20 years.

Anglicare Sydney advocacy and research director Sue King said 1500 new dwellings was a “drop in the ocean”.

“We are advocating for the government to build at least 20,000 new homes, 2000 every year for the next 10 years,” Ms King said.

“It’s great that funds from the (Millers Point) sale have led to more properties being built, but it is not sustainable in the long term.”

There are more than 8800 public housing properties in Canterbury-Bankstown, with 46 new dwellings under construction in Padstow, Greenacre, Condell Park, Yagoona and Beverly Hills.

NEW SOCIAL HOUSING DWELLINGS IN CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN:

■ 2 in Fourth Ave, Condell Park

■ 8 in Astley Ave, Padstow

■ 6 in Gray St, Yagoona