Question On Notice No. 3045 asked in the Legislative Council on 11 August 2020 by Hon Colin Tincknell
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Housing
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
(1) Can the Government please provide the following figures:
(a) the number of dwellings that have been added to the social housing stock in the past three years.;
(b) the number of dwellings that have been removed from the social housing stock in the past three years.; and
(c) how many dwellings have been planned and funded, but are not yet complete?
(2) Can the Minister please provide a summary of the reasons for the removal of dwellings from the State housing stock?
(3) With reference to the Minister’s answer to question without notice 638 from 18 June this year, why has the Government stock of social housing dwellings decreased by more than 1,100 during this term of Government
?
Answered on 15 September 2020
The McGowan State Government’s Social Housing Economic Recovery Package, announced in June 2020, is a stimulus package to aid the State’s recovery from COVID-19
and support some of the most vulnerable members of our community. This package will provide $319 million in funding for approximately 250 new social or affordable housing
dwellings, refurbishments to 1,500 public and supported residential housing and maintenance to 3,800 regional government owned properties. This is the largest housing maintenance
and refurbishment program in our State’s history. It is estimated the delivery of the Social Housing Economic Recovery Package will support approximately 1,700 jobs for Western
Australians living across the state.
(1) (a) 224, 2017-18 to 2019-20.
(b) 1,574, 2017-18 to 2019-20.
(c) As at June 2020 there are 935 planned and funded dwellings, consisting of:
- 831 properties planned and funded over the next two years under the Housing Stimulus Project (METRONET Social and Affordable Housing Package, the Housing Investment Package and the SHERP), but which are not yet complete, and
- 104 properties currently under construction for social housing outside of these packages.
(2) Housing stock is reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that it is aligned to demand, value for money and enabling service delivery. Considerations that may lead to disposal of social housing stock include,
but are not limited to:
• Properties nearing or being at the end of their economic life
• Properties in areas of low demand
• Properties in areas of high social housing presence
• Properties on land with significant underlying redevelopment potential
• Properties not of a modern standard
• Realigning the portfolio to changing demand
(3) In 2017 the McGowan Government inherited a public housing stock base that was not fit for purpose and represented a lack of planned investment by the previous Government.
A higher proportion of older, inappropriate assets were sold from 2017 onwards to better align housing stock needs with client demand and ensure better quality assets. This evolving
response is well illustrated by the demolition of the 300 properties comprising Brownlie Towers; although homes that served many well for many years, these complexes were ultimately
beyond their useful lives and in no way representative of the State Government’s contemporary approach to social housing.
The State Government has arrested the decline in public housing stock numbers with significant investment into the quality and condition of the portfolio through the Metronet Jobs; Housing
and Homelessness Investment and the Social Housing Economic Recovery Package.
The quality of the portfolio will be significantly improved as a result from these large investments. With this improvement to quality comes improvement to tenant amenity.