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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 3057 asked in the Legislative Council on 11 August 2020 by Hon Jacqui Boydell

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Minister for Housing
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Tabled Paper No: 4264- View tabled paper


Question

I refer to the local government areas of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Leonora, Laverton, Norseman, Menzies and Coolgardie, and I ask:

(a) how many houses in each local government area have been owned and/or leased by the Department of Housing annually for the last five years:
(i) in relation to (a), please provide:
(A) a breakdown by areas and calendar years; and
(B) the addresses of each property; and
(b) of those listed in (a)(i)(B), please detail any periods of non-tenancy including the dates and reasons why the properties were untenanted;
(c) please list the number and addresses of any new houses built or purchased by the Department in these local government areas in the last five years;
(d) please detail any maintenance requests lodged for properties owned or leased by the Department in the last three years, outlining any spending that occurred in relation to each request;
(e) how many properties in each local government area are currently allocated for Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH);
(f) please provide the address of each GROH property and a brief description of the accommodation provided; and
(g) of those listed in (f), please detail any periods of non-tenancy including the dates and reasons why the properties were untenanted?
Answered on 22 September 2020

(a) [See Tabled Paper No. ] for a breakdown of all Department of Communities’ (Communities) properties by Local Government Area and financial year. Communities is unable to disclose the addresses of any tenants,
public housing, GROH or otherwise due to privacy and confidentiality obligations.

Communities does not own or lease properties in remote Aboriginal communities. However, it is responsible for the commissioning of a range of services, including housing management and maintenance,
on behalf of the State, through a variety of formal and informal arrangements.

(b) [See Tabled Paper No. ] that provides the number of void properties by days and suburb. Properties may be untenanted for a number of reasons, including if the property is undergoing maintenance works,
is being redeveloped, there are planned refurbishment works, or the property is up for sale.

(c) [See Tabled Paper No. ] for the number of properties constructed and acquired by Communities in the last five years. Communities is unable to disclose the addresses of any tenants, public housing, GROH
or otherwise due to privacy and confidentiality obligations.

(d) Communities’ Maintenance Budget for public housing and GROH is allocated by Region. The tables below provides maintenance expenditure on public housing and GROH for the Goldfields Region. This includes
the Shires of Coolgardie, Dundas, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Laverton, Leonora, Menzies, Wiluna and Esperance.

Maintenance Expenditure – Public Housing – Goldfields Region

2017/182018/192019/20
Public Housing Maintenance Expenditure$6,397,795.80 $7,287,632.83 $7,385,506.64
Public Housing Maintenance Work Orders29, 75834, 12127, 443
Note: Maintenance work orders include all work orders categories completed for public housing and GROH.

Maintenance Expenditure – GROH Housing – Goldfields Region

2017/182018/192019/20
GROH Maintenance Expenditure$3,204,386.44 $3,190,198.66 $4,020,694.80
GROH Maintenance Work Order7,4809,6627,752
Note: Maintenance work orders include all work orders categories completed for public housing and GROH.

(e) [See Tabled Paper No. ] that provides a total of Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH) properties in each local government area.

(f) Communities is unable to disclose the addresses of any tenants, public housing, GROH or otherwise due to privacy and confidentiality obligations. However, with respect to GROH properties in the
requested local government areas:

    • 78% of GROH properties have 3 or more bedrooms, and
    • 69% of GROH properties are less than 20 years old.
(g) Communities monitors the occupancy rates of its GROH properties as part of its ongoing business and adjusts its portfolio, by utilising both GROH owned stock and leasing properties from the private
market, to best respond to current and future demand under the program.

Some of the reasons a GROH property may be vacant are:

    • the district/town being in decline due to economic factors, resulting in fewer public servants being ‘posted’ to the location;
    • being poorly located in the district/town;
    • the property is of poor amenity and state of repair, or otherwise unlettable;
    • the availability of properties that can be leased by public sector employees from the private market, making a GROH owned property less attractive;
    • the property being on the market for sale; and/or
    • the property is being refurbished or upgraded.