ABOUT 2000 people are still waiting for public housing in the Bayside area.
The State Government says it will start building 74 new dwellings this financial year and complete construction of 64 other dwellings to help meet demand in the region.
Figures show the number of people
waiting for government-subsidised rental accommodation has decreased by 13 per cent in the past 10 months, but a large gap still exists between the number of available homes and the number of people waiting.
Rising rents continue to put pressure on low-income families and individuals, who may apply for social housing because they are disadvantaged.
Housing advocacy groups last year warned some people had to wait several years on the waiting list.
Organisations such as Mangrove Housing help people find a home while they are
waiting for public housing.
Last August, the Bayside Bulletin reported more than 2300 people were waiting for social housing in the Bayside area – a region that includes suburbs from Redland Bay to Bulimba.
Housing Minister Robert Schwarten said the number of social housing applications had now fallen to about 2000.
Eligible applicants will be offered a
government-subsidised rental home when existing tenants move out of the 2670 local social housing dwellings or after the
government builds or purchases more accommodation.
The number of public housing dwellings increased by 152 in the past 10 months and the department plans to start or finish
construction work on 138 new dwellings in the current financial year.
“This will provide a massive boost to the supply of social housing for battlers in the bayside area,” Mr Schwarten said.
The Minister said some applicants may have taken their names off the waiting list because they had been able to find a suitable home on the private tenancy market.
He said the department’s Ongoing
Eligibility Policy had allowed the government to remove tenants from 840 social housing dwellings in Queensland because they were found to be earning more than $80,000 a year or owned property.
Mangrove Housing manager Ann
McAnally said last year some people were “just tenuously holding onto a private rental” or were relying on friends and family members for accommodation.