THE challenges of providing public housing in western NSW and ways to improve the system were the focus of a forum at Dubbo yesterday.
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Police, council, government departments, the real estate industry and members of the public were among those represented at a meeting organised by consultants on behalf of the NSW government, designed to provide feedback on the government's social housing discussion paper released in November.
Family and Community Services Western NSW district director Jo Lawrence told the forum the system was "under enormous challenge", with some people on waiting lists for years for a limited number of properties that were not only ageing but required increasingly costly maintenance and often were unsuitable for the needs of clients.
In western NSW, for example, 67 per cent of dwellings were two and three-bedroom cottages, but in NSW 60 per cent of social housing tenants were single with no dependents.
In the area from Bourke to Bathurst there were 4323 social housing properties, including 668 Aboriginal Housing Office properties, plus 911 community housing properties.
Between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014, 772 applicants had been placed into social housing in western NSW, Ms Lawrence said.
The department had assessed 3032 applications for housing assistance and assisted 646 with temporary accommodation.
In particular, the forum explored how a reformed social housing system could provide a safety net for vulnerable people, be fair and sustainable while offering pathways for residents to be come independent, all within the constraints of the government's budget.
"People are staying in public housing longer, and fewer are exiting, and the location of some housing can limit opportunities for people. But rental affordability in the private sector is a challenge for many," Ms Lawrence said.
Across the years incidents of crime and antisocial behaviour at Apollo Estate and the former Gordon Estate had been "high-profile" and had no doubt been a challenge, Ms Lawrence said, as was getting a small percentage of people who did not respect their properties to look after their rented homes.
Several participants at the meeting brought up the importance of educating clients "before they take the keys" so they were aware of their obligations when it came to paying their rent on time, looking after their properties and obeying the law.
That said, concerns were raised some tenants lacked basic budgeting and general life skills needed to maintain a tenancy.
"Have consequences for poor behaviour, but that needs to go hand in hand with education," one delegate told the forum.
"Perhaps involve tenants with the maintenance of their homes and encourage people to own their future," another said.
The idea public housing should be seen as a stepping stone to the private housing market where possible, rather than a permanent destination, was another recurring theme.
"Sometimes, despite substantial assistance, people do not want to leave social housing and they almost sabotage themselves," Ms Lawrence said.
Some participants suggested priority for available public housing should be given to "local people" and "women escaping violence".
When it came to housing suitability, concerns were raised social housing design often did not meet the needs of Aboriginal communities, leading to complaints of "overcrowding" when extended families wanted to live together.
"A more purpose-built design is likely to last longer, and if it's purpose-built it wouldn't be overcrowded," one participant said.
The forum was told that because Dubbo was a major service centre, indigenous public housing tenants in Dubbo often felt a "cultural obligation" to accommodate relatives from remote towns when they visited the city for medical appointments and the like.
Clearly setting out and educating tenants about the difference between a short stay by a visitor not named on a housing lease and an unauthorised long-term tenant might help to address the issue, some suggested.
Another discussion centred on factors in the wider housing market that had created pressures in the public housing sector, including an undersupply of housing in the Dubbo rental market, a massive increase in rent prices in the past five years, not enough new flats and units being built at Dubbo in the past two decades and zoning issues that had made it difficult for higher-density housing to be established.
"Perhaps there could be tax breaks to boost investment in low-cost housing," one participant suggested.
Feedback from forums across the state and collected via submissions from the public would be compiled in a report, published and provided to the incoming government following the state election.
People who still wished to have their say on the issue could do so by visiting the FACS website and lodging their submission by February 20.