More than 120 vacant public housing properties in Geraldton await repairs, maintenance or wrecking ball

Damage continues to be caused to some of Geraldton’s boarded-up public housing stock of more than 120 properties, at the same time more than 700 desperate people remain in limbo on the public housing wait list. The Department of Communities has revealed out of 999 public housing properties it manages in the Greater Geraldton region, 127 are vacant and 111 need repairs before they are available for applicants on the housing wait list. In July 2021, the Geraldton Guardian reported there were 93 vacant homes in the Greater Geraldton region. A Department spokesperson said 47 homes would be refurbished and 12 demolished as part of the Spalding Renewal Project, and work was under way to return 26 properties to public housing stock by late 2022. “The $9 million Spalding Renewal Project will include major refurbishments of older public housing properties, construction of footpaths throughout the suburb, upgrades to existing road infrastructure and general landscaping works to beautify the neighbourhood,” the spokesperson said. While the State Government has introduced a further 806 new social homes across WA since July 1, 2021, Regional Alliance West operations manager Chris Gabelish told a parliamentary committee last week investigating the homelessness crisis in WA the “tremendous” damage being done to vacant properties was a real issue. “There’s a lot of damage. Often — as the regional managers have told me — when the properties have been fixed up, they’re provided back to the department on Friday afternoon and by Monday morning there’s damage to the properties,” he said. According to the department, there were 741 public housing applications for the Geraldton preference zone at the end of October compared to 745 at the same time last year. In the past 12 months, 51 households have been housed in Geraldton from the public housing wait list. Mr Gabelish recommended houses be pre-allocated to people on wait lists and the State Government allow more ownership through engagement with the maintenance process. He told the committee of one confronting example of how desperate some people were to ensure a roof over their and their family’s heads. “Last week we had a lady that was housed, she was in emergency accommodation with three kids and paying $590 bucks a week (rent). There was real issues with her staying there and she ended up breaking into a (vacant) property because she wasn’t going to have her kids sleeping under a bridge,” he said. Housing and Homelessness Minister John Carey said 10 residents from the priority public wait list were welcomed into six recently refurbished social housing properties in May this year. “We have a clear evidence-based strategy for addressing homelessness which focusses on addressing the underlying issues leading to homelessness, which is about much more than providing a bed,” he said.