Page 1193 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 24 June 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
The ACT Government and the Commonwealth Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services are committed to introducing greater flexibility into the forms of housing assistance, with a coordinated approach that provides better integration of assistance. The work of the National Housing Strategy has provided a solid base from which this Government can work with the Commonwealth and the other States to develop a new Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement.
The economic downturn and the high cost and limited availability of private dwellings have placed additional pressure on the supply of public housing and other forms of housing assistance. The waiting list for applicants for public housing has increased significantly, growing from 2,534 at 1 July 1990 to 6,431 at the end of May 1992. That surely was not a period in which one needed to consider the supply of any surplus housing; I do not think surplus housing could exist under those sorts of circumstances. While the growth in demand increases the pressure and the responsibility of the Housing Trust to respond to community need, it also reflects the great faith that the Canberra community has in the public housing system as a means to achieve affordable housing. It is clear that the market has not responded to the greater demand for rental housing, despite significant reductions in the cost of investment. In fact, the levels of rent have been climbing in response to the tight rental supply.
The Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement has given the ACT the depth of resources and the capacity for the Housing Trust to house a substantial number of people off the waiting list by allocating to the vacancies occurring in existing stock. It is expected that over 2,300 vacancies will occur in this financial year. This represents an ability to house around 40 per cent of the current waiting list within a year, and turn over just under 20 per cent of the current tenancies. The Housing Trust has shown consistent improvement in making available vacant properties for allocation. Since May 1990 the average turnaround time for a vacant property has been reduced from 44 days to 21 days in May 1991. This suggests that the Housing Trust is correct in pursuing strategies to assist people into other forms of housing, that is home ownership, or share ownership for those able to afford other options, which in turn can contribute significantly to assisting more people waiting for public housing.
We have also expanded our activities in the area of private rental assistance, in recognition of the extreme costs experienced by some tenants. The rent relief scheme effectively allows people to remain in private rental housing while they wait for more long-term assistance. It allows the Housing Trust to use private sector resources to provide a complementary program to the public housing program, assisting over 2,000 households each year.
The range and effectiveness of programs under the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement have enabled the Government to reinforce its commitment to social justice principles. Unlike approaches recommended by the Liberals at both Territory and Federal levels, the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement recognises the necessity for a diversity of approaches. There is no misguided total reliance on the market or the private sector to provide a response to the problem of homelessness. The Liberals support the selling off of public housing at a discounted rate that will erode the capacity to allocate public housing as it becomes vacant. This is selling off the most effective asset this Government has
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .