A hidden issue

Mr Jones said the wait list for the few social housing options in Finley are low.

But he said people are not coming forward to put themselves on the wait list because they know there is so little availability.

‘‘We just did some analysis of the wait list numbers, however they don’t tell us much.

‘‘The wait list is really light on for social housing in Finley and those areas and I think that’s because there’s so little social housing there.

‘‘People tend not to go on the list because they know there’s nothing ever available.

‘‘It’s a bit hard to gauge the impact (of housing availability) because of that.

‘‘The other factor (impacting data) is that people tend not to move. They stay in their social housing tenancy for years, so it’s really difficult to gauge the impact. 

‘‘The situation’s different in Deniliquin (which has seen an increase in social housing demand of 10 per cent in the last 12 months), in that people tend to move around a bit. Where we are having real struggles there is that we just can’t find properties.’’

Mr Jones said rental demand throughout regional areas is exploding, leaving some residents with no option but to couch surf.

And while there was an opportunity to ease the situation in the federal budget and its responses, Mr Jones said both the Federal Coalition and Labor parties missed the mark on both building target and spending.

The government’s budget promises $7.7 billion to construct 30,000 new social housing homes over the next four years.

‘‘It’s not enough. That funding won’t make any inroads into the shortfall, let alone the increase,’’ Mr Jones said.

‘‘We were pleased to see that commitment but there’s a fair bit of research to say that would just see the status quo continue.’’

Mr Jones said the aim needs to be 15,000 new homes each year, just to meet the current demand.

He urged anyone requiring assistance with housing to continue to apply through Homes Out West. Call the Deniliquin office on 5881 4182 to arrange an appointment.