The waiting list for social housing in the Hunter continues to grow, and the NSW government has not put a dent in the time people spend in the queue.
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Department of Communities and Justice figures issued on Friday show 3747 applicants were waiting for social housing in the region at June 30, a 1.7 per cent rise on the 3684 waiting a year earlier.
The Newcastle waiting list was 1179, down slightly from 1216, and clients still faced a five- to 10-year wait to secure a property.
The Lake Macquarie queue was 895, down from 922, but those applying for a two-bedroom house face a wait of more than 10 years. The line grew from 658 to 732 in Maitland and from 888 to 941 in the rest of the Hunter.
Across NSW, the waiting list fell from 46,530 in 2019 to 46,087 this year, though an Audit Office report in 2018 found the queue was actually 7000 longer than the published figure. About 5 to 10 per cent of applicants are regarded as priority cases.
St Vincent de Paul Society NSW chief executive Jack de Groot said on Friday that the figures showed waiting lists were still too long and some people remained in limbo for more than 10 years.
"Each applicant represents a household, which means the number of people, including children, who are without a place to call home remains well over 100,000."
St Vincent de Paul says the NSW government should build at least 5000 social housing properties every year for the next decade.
The Department of Planning announced in early December that it was building 32 new social housing dwellings across three sites in the Hunter and said on Thursday that it would build 53 new houses in the next six months under a statewide pilot using seven builders and faster approvals.
The government pledged $812 million over four years in this year's budget to build and maintain social and affordable housing.
It launched a program, Future Directions, in 2016 to cut the waiting list by building 23,500 new and replacement social and affordable housing properties in 10 years.
But that program, and the 3000-home Social and Affordable Housing Fund, have not yet put a substantial dent in the waiting list.
A recent Equity Economics report for NSW Council of Social Service found that a $3.15 billion social housing investment in NSW would create 10,500 new homes and nearly 7000 jobs.
Newcastle federal MP Sharon Claydon said this week that a $150 million investment would build almost 500 new homes and create more than 300 jobs in the city.
"In Newcastle, we already have 1200 people on the social housing wait list who won't be able to get into a property for at least five years," she said.
"Without urgent action, this will soon get much, much worse."
Equity Economics modelling predicted homelessness would rise by 37 per cent in Newcastle and 40 per cent in the Hunter by mid-2021 compared with pre-coronavirus levels.
"This is a staggering increase in Newcastle that would shatter lives, devastate communities and have dire economic impacts throughout our entire region," Ms Claydon said.
She said the Morrison Government had not invested a "single dollar" in social housing in the 2020 federal budget, instead giving HomeBuilder grants to private property owners.
"In contrast, direct investment in social housing will put roofs over the heads of vulnerable Australians, create jobs and help drive local economic recovery."
NSW Council of Social Service chief executive Joanna Quilty said after the NSW budget was announced in November that the new state funding was welcome but would not add enough housing stock into the system.
"Without urgent action and significant investment, what we will see is more individuals and families forced into precarious, inadequate and unsafe situations," she said.
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IN THE NEWS:
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
