Steve Martin – Michmutters
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Australia

Number of vacant social homes in WA rises by 25 per cent as housing crisis continues

As thousands of West Australians linger on the social housing waitlist, almost 2,000 social houses across the state are empty and in need of repairs, maintenance or demolition — more than 25 per cent than last year.

State government data shows there were 1,927 social houses empty in June 2022, compared to 1,514 properties at the same time last year.

It is the highest number of vacant social houses since 2019.

Karen Anderson, who lives in the southern Perth suburb of Beaconsfield, told the ABC Perth’s Nadia Mitsopoulos that the property next door had been vacant for three years and many more were awaiting repairs.

“Fences down, windows smashed, the gardens are overgrown,” she said.

A boarded-up house in a suburban area.
A Beaconsfield resident says there are many houses vacant or awaiting repairs.(Supplied)

Ms Anderson acknowledged that the state was battling labor shortages and a heated construction market, but said it was time to think of more inventive solutions.

“[The government] is trying but there are no workers,” she said.

“If there’s no labour, what is wrong with saying ‘Right, we have got a house for you, it’s not smashed to pieces, it needs a bit of a paint and clean. We do it together, this is your home and we will give you a month free rent’?”

“Why not get people to help do their own home so they appreciate it more? Because the labor is not there.”

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