A WA parliamentary question seeks data on public housing waitlists, including applications added and removed, and reasons for removal. The answer provides aggregated data on new applications and withdrawals, but lacks specific reasons for removal in 2022-23.

AnsweredQoN 2011Legislative Council
Asked
16 April 2024
Portfolio
Housing

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the public housing waitlist, and I ask: (a) for each of the following years, how many applications, and representing how many people, were added to the public housing waitlist: (i) 2017-18; (ii) 2018-19; (iii) 2019-20; (iv) 2020-21; (v) 2021-22; (vi) 2022-23; and (vii) 2023-24 (to date); (b) for each of the years in (a), how many applications, and representing how many people, were removed from the waitlist for any reason other than having been provided with a public or community home; (c) for the year 2022-23, for what reasons were applications removed from the public housing waitlist; and (d) in reference to (c), how many were removed for each reason?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
16 May 2024
Responded by
Minister for Agriculture and Food representing the Minister for Housing
Response time
8 days
(a-d)
The Department of Communities (Communities) provides multiple pathways, including public rental housing, bond assistance loans, and other supports to those unable to obtain housing through the private sector. It should be noted that the majority of applicants for public housing have access to some form of accommodation while awaiting allocation.
Public Housing State-wide New Applications Added and Applications Withdrawn by Financial Year
Financial Year
Wait Turn
Number of New Applications Added
Applications Withdrawn
2017-18
6,495
6,559
2018-19
6,593
5,064
2019-20
6,831
4,895
2020-21
7,310
4,398
2021-22
6,099
3,487
2022-23
6,567
4,615
2023-24 (as at 31 March 2024)
5,563
3,147
The data above includes instances where ‘wait turn’ applications were withdrawn.
Applications may be withdrawn for a range of reasons such as finding alternative housing arrangements, moving inter-state or overseas, or at the request of the client. A number of applications are withdrawn where people exceed income and/or asset eligibility limits or do not provide information to prove eligibility.

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