By LAUREN FROST
Many have been left confused about the future of public and social housing in NSW following Premier Chris Minns’ sudden announcement on Twitter that the Government is “immediately freezing the sale of all public and social housing.”
On Monday, the Premier tweeted, “The sell off stops now. Because privatising this public housing hurt our state and hurt the most vulnerable. We are immediately freezing the sale of all public and social housing.”
The announcement follows one made earlier in the year by the new Labor Government which revealed that several housing departments will be merged into ‘Homes NSW’. Under Labor, the Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) and the Department of Communities and Justice will henceforth be abolished for the sake of efficiency.
Whilst the decision to freeze the sale of public and social housing is surely a positive step towards preserving the already limited housing stock, much still remains unclear.
Máire Sheehan, former Leichhardt Mayor and Action for Public Housing spokesperson told City Hub that, “The Twitter statement by the Premier is short and implies a stop to all sales of public housing. However, the situation is more complex than this short statement implies.”
“The ALP has generally been better than the Coalition at funding public housing however the number of homes overall has declined under both parties since the early 1990s.”
All For Freezing The Sale Of Public Housing
Greens NSW Housing & Homelessness spokesperson and Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong, is cautiously optimistic about the announcement.
“We welcome the Premier’s announcement that NSW Labor is immediately freezing the sale of public housing,” she said.
“There is no justification for privatising and selling off public housing – especially in the midst of a worsening housing crisis and while there are over 50,000 applicants on the public housing waiting list.”
However, Leong rightly points out that the future of the public housing that is pending redevelopment in Waterloo and Eveleigh is uncertain.
“Further clarification is still needed on whether the freeze will extend to existing public housing in Waterloo and Eveleigh, where state-led redevelopments effectively privatising most of the estate are already underway.”
“The Waterloo and Eveleigh communities have been forced to live with uncertainty and the threat of eviction from their homes for years, and urgently need clarity on whether and how the freeze will impact them,” she continued.
“The Greens will always stand in solidarity with public housing tenants mobilising to defend their homes from redevelopment, and will continue to advocate for massively increased funding for public and social housing.”
Sheehan is similarly frustrated on behalf of tenants, commenting that the situation is “very stressful” for many.
“At present, the tenants in Redfern and Waterloo have no idea what the situation is. Some blocks are so neglected that there is a real question of whether it’s better to demolish and rebuild. The tenants have been in this limbo for close to 10 years.”
Lack Of Clarity
The irritation surrounding Premier Minns’ lack of clarity is shared by housing activist group, REDWatch.
A spokesperson for the group told City Hub that “REDWatch has written to Minister Rose Jackson asking for clarification but we have not received any as yet.”
“Other agencies are also waiting for clarification about what the tweet means and what “we are immediately Freezing the sale of all public and social housing” applies to,” the spokesperson said.
“Prior to this announcement, LAHC was saying to tenants that it was business as usual for Waterloo South as they had not been told to stop work on the project. Nothing currently seems clearer after the tweet.”
The spokesperson also notes the uncertainty surrounding “particular sites in terms of where redevelopment, contracts and re-zoning are up to on individual sites that will determine if they can be easily frozen.”
“How long is the freeze for?” they continued, “Until the new Govt understands where the projects are up to? Until they have an alternative mechanism to fund and build new social housing without selling off assets – which is the way LAHC has been set up to operate?”
The REDWatch spokesperson additionally denounces the existing approach by the LAHC of selling off housing “just to keep the system running”.
“REDWatch welcomes the end of that approach if that is what the announcement means. But to end that approach there has to be money come in from somewhere.”
“Treasury has to put money into building public housing, LAHC has to be able to borrow against its assets or there has to be a sizeable injection from the Federal Government.”
“Without money coming from somewhere the problem does not get addressed,” the spokesperson continues, “There is no information about how the Labor Government is going to fund new housing and the maintenance necessary to bring existing stock to standard without selling of housing stock to fund it.
LAHC Funding
Sheehan is concerned about LAHC funding as well, explaining that “Currently all public sector agencies are governed by the asset management rules, that have been in place for several decades, to make a return on investment on their assets.”
“The budget funds allocated for asset repairs and maintenance have been totally inadequate for decades hence the dilapidated state of most public housing homes. This neglect has resulted in public housing now requiring significant investment to bring homes back to a liveable state. As no funds are being made available to the Land and Housing Corporation.”
“At Redfern Waterloo, as in all public housing, maintenance and repairs neglect have reduced homes to a terrible state,” she continued.
“So are they saying they will not be selling public housing and public land but will be demolishing and redeveloping to include profit-making private housing? If not, how will they fund more public housing if the asset management rules are not changed?”
“All We Have Is Questions.”
The REDWatch spokesperson told City Hub that “all we have is questions about what the tweet is actually saying so everyone is asking for clarification.”
REDWatch is frustrated by the lack of clarity and answers pertaining to Premier Minns’s tweet which they believe shows “disrespect to tenants by putting out a tweet without there being information available about what it means.”
“Public housing tenants are left with lots of uncertainty, questions, hopes, and disappointments because there is not information about what the announcement actually means.”
“REDWatch has earlier written to Minister Rose Jackson asking that announcements are first made and explained to tenants before they are announced to the media. The Premier by making this brief tweet without answers for tenants is not a good start for a government that has promised a better deal for public housing tenants. Hopefully, the new government gets its act together quickly.”
Sheehan notes that many of those impacted have attempted to find out exactly what their future holds to no avail.
“Currently Hands off Glebe and Action for Public Housing are trying to get information and action from the state government. Tenants at Redfern Waterloo emailed Local Member Ron Hoenig a few days after the elections and no answer yet…”
A rally will be held on June 17th, 1 pm at Sydney Town Hall, where the demolition and redevelopment of public housing is said to be going ahead.
