The Public Housing Union has vowed to step up its campaign against the sale of public housing in the Illawarra, with a protest to take place at the auction of two properties at the Wollongong Golf Club next Wednesday night.
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Spokesman Paul Matters said the group was protesting against the policy of the O’Farrell Government which is to sell public housing properties.
‘‘We are protesting because the government is not building as many houses as they are selling off,’’ Mr Matters said.
‘‘This policy is not about the tenants - in the past people have been evicted for not being good tenants, but in many cases these people are model tenants.
‘‘These properties, many in the northern suburbs, are being sold purely for their speculative values.
‘‘A developer can purchase these properties, knock them down and double the rent.
‘‘That doesn’t benefit renters, first home buyers or public housing tenants - it only benefits negative gearing purchasers or developers.
‘‘The Government is basically taking good housing stock out of the public sector,’’ he said.
‘‘These people living there may be offered somewhere else to live, but taking these properties in particular out of the market doesn’t help those on a waiting list, because nothing new replaces it, or people wanting to buy their first home, because they can’t afford them.’’
On Wednesday night a group of people, which included public housing tenants, private home owners and concerned residents met at the Bulli Bowling Club to discuss issues surrounding the sale of public housing properties.
On Tuesday a spokesperson for the Department of Family and Community Services said a total of 375 new homes had been built in the Illawarra since 2010, while only 155 houses had been sold.
Many of these new homes were approved following the introduction of the controversial State Environmental Planning Policy (Affordable Rental Housing) 2009 by the previous Labor Government, a policy which bypassed local council planning laws, and was subsequently amended by the O’Farrell Government in 2011.
The spokesperson said houses were sold because they were no longer considered suitable for public housing - often because of demographic movements - or because the houses had reached the end of their economic life.
However, Mr Matters said the Auditor-General’s Report to Parliament in July this year had found that the O’Farrell Government’s policy of reducing maintenance of existing properties and selling properties was ‘‘not financially sustainable’’.
‘‘Our projection is that under the O’Farrell Government twice as many homes will be sold than built,’’ Mr Matters said.
‘‘It is incumbent on the Minister Pru Goward to put her figures on the table.’’
