New funding for social housing welcomed by sector

Peak community housing and homelessness sector peak body Shelter WA has congratulated the Premier and Minister for Housing; Lands; Homelessness; Local Government on funding announced today to provide much needed investment into social housing in WA.

The measures provide an additional $450 million investment in the existing Social Housing Investment Fund.

“We congratulate the Premier and Minister John Carey MLA on this announcement today and commend them on the momentum they continue to build in this space,” Shelter WA CEO Kath Snell said.

“Investment of this scale provides certainty to our sector and community, and will change lives.

“Our sector is looking forward to continuing to work with government as a delivery partner to get new social homes on the ground as quickly as possible, whilst providing diverse, high-quality homes and wrap around services to tenants.

“Investment of this scale provides certainty.”

“We acknowledge this announcement follows a number of recent initiatives by the Minister, including $23m to deliver 100 homes and support for people sleeping rough, in partnership with Housing Choices, and over $39 million in grants for the community housing sector and local governments to deliver over 158 new social housing homes.

People Sleeping Rough

“We are thrilled the WA Government is providing funding for a pilot to provide 100 ‘supported landlord’ homes for people sleeping rough in the regions, based on the successful model provided by Housing Choices, which provides intensive wrap-around support to transition people sleeping rough into stable and secure long-term accommodation.

“The WA Government has committed to end rough sleeping by 2025 under its All Paths Lead to a Home: Western Australia’s 10-Year Strategy on Homelessness 2020–2030. Today’s announcement is a much needed and strongly welcomed step towards achieving that bold but achievable goal.

Keystart

“We also welcome the amendments to Keystart’s pilot Urban Connect program that will mean one-bedroom apartments are now eligible under Urban Connect, and a new Keystart Loan Program will also be introduced to enable customers to secure pre-sale off-the-plan properties.

“Shelter WA supports measures like Keystart.”

“Shelter WA supports measures like Keystart and low-deposit loan scheme that are well-targeted and administered effectively and considerate of borrowing capacity,” Ms Snell concluded.

Fast Facts & Links

• There were 18,919 households (33,806 people) including 4,486 priority applicants (9,016 individuals) on the social housing waitlist at January 2023.
• The total number of people experiencing homelessness in WA is 9,729.
• The most recent By-Name List March 2023 data shows there were,

– Perth 846 currently homeless
(416 sleeping rough, 430 temporarily sheltered)
– Bunbury 99 currently homeless
(52 rough sleeping, 47 temporarily sheltered)
– Geraldton 64 currently homeless
(36 rough sleeping, 28 temporarily sheltered)
– Mandurah 135 currently homeless
(80 rough sleeping, 55 temporarily sheltered)
– Rockingham 126 currently homeless
(88 sleeping rough, 38 temporarily sheltered)

• The CHIA/UNI NSW report released on Monday, 31 January estimated an unmet need of 85,500 WA households by 2041. To meet this demand need we’d need to increase social and affordable housing growth by up to 8.7 per cent per year or over 4,700 homes each year.

• Keystart’s variable interest rate is currently 8.01 per cent and the minimum deposit is from two percent (compared with other lenders is from 5 per cent). The maximum metro purchase price is $560,000 to $750,000 in the Pilbara. Income limits are $105,000 for a single person and $155,000 for a couple, and for the Pilbara it’s $165,000 and $195,000 for a couple.

Shelter WA

Shelter WA is the independent peak body in Western Australia for the community housing and homelessness sectors. With 140 members, our strength is providing evidence-based policy, advice, engagement, representation and strong advocacy for an effective housing system.

Media Enquiries

Chantal Caruso, Shelter WA | E: chantal@shelterwa.org.au | M: 0447 201 377.