Hon Steve Martin asks about the number of social housing properties owned by the WA government, occupancy rates, and the status of vacant properties. The Minister provides a detailed breakdown of public housing stock and vacancies, but lacks information on community housing vacancies.

AnsweredQoN 133Legislative Council
Asked
22 February 2023
Portfolio
Housing

QuestionView source ↗

SOCIAL HOUSING — STOCK
133. Hon STEVE MARTIN to the minister representing the
Minister for Housing:
I refer to the government's
social housing scheme.
(1) To date, how many social
housing properties does the government own?
(2) Of those in (1), how many are —
(a) occupied; and
(b) vacant?
(3) Of those in (2)(b), will the
minister please provide a breakdown of how many were —
(a) returning stock; and
(b) non-returning stock?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following response has been provided to me by
the Minister for Housing.
(1)–(3) I seek leave to
have the information incorporated into Hansard as it is in a tabular
form.
[Leave granted for the following
material to be incorporated.]
(1) As at 31 January
2023, there were 43,458 social housing properties across the State, of which
36,050 were public housing and 7,408 were community housing properties.
1,000
social homes have been added to the State's public housing stock since
the McGowan Government's record investment towards increasing social
housing stock. Some of these properties are not yet reflected in this data as
it often takes time for data to be transferred wholly into the Department of
Communities systems, across regional offices.
(2)–(3) Vacancy numbers are always a single
point in time number that fluctuates for a range of reasons. Properties may be
awaiting acceptance of offers from applicants, undergoing minor maintenance
repairs or refurbishment prior to new occupants moving in, or undergoing major
refurbishment as part of a redevelopment.
As at
31 January 2023, 1,857 public housing properties are currently vacant, of which
1,452 are returning stock and are currently undergoing or planned for,
maintenance, repairs or refurbishments to be made available to an applicant on
the waiting list.
Of the
remaining 405 properties, some of which may return to stock, 326 are currently
undergoing review. The remaining 79 are not returning as they have reached
their end of life, are damaged beyond repair or are being considered for
redevelopment.
Information
for Community Housing vacancies is unavailable as these properties are managed
by Community Housing Providers.

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