❓ Mr. Murray questions the Minister for Housing about the sale of public housing in Collie despite a long waiting list. The Minister defends the sales as a strategy to maintain housing stock and fund new properties, but Mr. Murray expresses concern about the net loss of housing.
AnsweredQoN 272Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PUBLIC
HOUSING — COLLIE
272. Mr M.P. MURRAY to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the housing stock owned by the Department of
Housing in Collie and the minister's answer to question on notice 142
in which he stated there were 18 vacant houses in the area.
(1) Why is the
department selling eight government-owned properties in Collie when 114 people
have been waiting for more than 88 weeks for accommodation?
(2) Why are 12
properties being sold, demolished or disposed of, and only six units scheduled
to be completed in 2013–14 to replace those 12 properties?
HOUSING — COLLIE
272. Mr M.P. MURRAY to the Minister for Housing:
I refer to the housing stock owned by the Department of
Housing in Collie and the minister's answer to question on notice 142
in which he stated there were 18 vacant houses in the area.
(1) Why is the
department selling eight government-owned properties in Collie when 114 people
have been waiting for more than 88 weeks for accommodation?
(2) Why are 12
properties being sold, demolished or disposed of, and only six units scheduled
to be completed in 2013–14 to replace those 12 properties?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the
member for Collie–Preston for the question.
(1)–(2)
There is a number of reasons the department sells houses and the situation in
Collie is no exception. Sometimes a house is past its use-by date and it may
cost too much to refurbish, so rather than refurbish it, the department will
sell it. With the money the department gets from selling that house there is
finance available to buy another one. It is a very efficient way of using
capital. It also ensures that the house for sale remains on the market and
becomes affordable housing for someone else. That is the general concept.
The
houses that were sold in Collie will be replenished. There is a turnover and we
try to ensure that our housing stock is of a certain age and can be easily
maintained.
Mr M.P. Murray : But we're losing numbers, minister. The
numbers are going down, not up.
Mr W.R. MARMION : I do not have the
specific numbers for the member's electorate, but I am quite happy to
provide them to him. It is normal practice for the Department of Housing to buy
and sell houses. Another instance when we are keen to sell houses is when we
have land that is double the value of the average house price and we can
sometimes get two houses out of that process. Another reason we sell houses is
that sometimes we can get rezoning, so one house can be turned into a duplex or
a triplex. There are a lot of reasons we sell houses, and they are all for the
benefit of working towards delivering our affordable housing strategy, which
has been getting a lot of credit right across Australia as the best strategy in
Australia.
member for Collie–Preston for the question.
(1)–(2)
There is a number of reasons the department sells houses and the situation in
Collie is no exception. Sometimes a house is past its use-by date and it may
cost too much to refurbish, so rather than refurbish it, the department will
sell it. With the money the department gets from selling that house there is
finance available to buy another one. It is a very efficient way of using
capital. It also ensures that the house for sale remains on the market and
becomes affordable housing for someone else. That is the general concept.
The
houses that were sold in Collie will be replenished. There is a turnover and we
try to ensure that our housing stock is of a certain age and can be easily
maintained.
Mr M.P. Murray : But we're losing numbers, minister. The
numbers are going down, not up.
Mr W.R. MARMION : I do not have the
specific numbers for the member's electorate, but I am quite happy to
provide them to him. It is normal practice for the Department of Housing to buy
and sell houses. Another instance when we are keen to sell houses is when we
have land that is double the value of the average house price and we can
sometimes get two houses out of that process. Another reason we sell houses is
that sometimes we can get rezoning, so one house can be turned into a duplex or
a triplex. There are a lot of reasons we sell houses, and they are all for the
benefit of working towards delivering our affordable housing strategy, which
has been getting a lot of credit right across Australia as the best strategy in
Australia.
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