Priority listed applicants in the area have steadily increased since June 30, 2010, when there were only 165 people in desperate need. But overall, applicants have decreased.
As of April 30, 2013, there were 1158 individual applicants on the wait list, of whom 233 were priority listed.
Kwinana MLA Roger Cook, whose area also includes parts of Baldivis, said many people in the area were in ‘chronic need’. ‘We all know that the private rental housing market is already over-heated and is beyond the reach of many people who cannot afford the alarmingly high rents being charged,’ he said.
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READ NOW‘To have so many people on the public housing wait list shows the Barnett Government is simply not concerned with the suffering being experienced.’
Since 2009-2010, the department has completed construction on or purchased 222 homes for social housing in the Kwinana Zone.
A further 16 are under construction and planning is under way for a further 38 to begin construction in 2013 and 2014.
Department of Housing Market Innovation and Partnerships director Greg Cash said that since 2009-2010, the department had completed construction on 125 affordable housing properties for sale on the private market, including under the Shared Start program.
‘Another 22 homes are under construction, with planning under way for a further 109 to begin construction in 2013,’ he said. ‘At 30 April, 2013, there were 588 Keystart loans held by low-to-moderate income earners in the Kwinana Zone.’