The following information about approval to return to a public housing property after redevelopment appeared on the NSW Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) website, dated February 22, 2016:
Approval to return to a property after redevelopment is subject to the following conditions:
If the properties on the site will be managed by FACS after redevelopment:
- The housing needs of the tenant and their household match the property characteristics of a property to be built at the site, and
- There is no compelling operational or external reason why approval to return should not be granted.
If the properties on the site will be managed by a community housing provider after redevelopment:
- The housing needs of the tenant and their household match the property characteristics of a property to be built at the site, and
- The tenant agrees to become a tenant of the community housing provider, and
- The tenant and their household are eligible for assistance under the policies of the community housing provider managing the properties, and
- There is no compelling operational or external reason why approval to return should not be granted.
The Minister for Social Housing, when announcing on December 16, 2015, the redevelopment of the Waterloo Public Housing Estate, did not mention the above conditions for approval to return after redevelopment when he claimed that all current tenants would be able to return to the Waterloo Estate when the redevelopment was finished.
Neither did the minister mention the government’s Community Plus policy, that “redevelops Land and Housing Corporation sites throughout metropolitan Sydney and regional NSW and intends to harness the expertise and capacity of the private and not-for-profit sectors to deliver integrated communities and improved social outcomes”.
Furthermore, the minister did not mention exactly how many public housing properties, and the size/nature of them, would be available for the existing public housing tenants to come back to when the Waterloo Public Housing Estate redevelopment is finished.
The question arises: when, if ever, will the Minister for Social Housing fill in the gaps he created on December 16 when he announced the redevelopment of the Waterloo Public Housing Estate?
