Media release
16 February 2023
The Community Housing Industry Association NSW (CHIA NSW) has called for urgent action on the housing crisis in the state ahead of the NSW State Election in 2023, as the waitlist for social housing grew by 15 percent in just one year.
CHIA NSW and Homelessness NSW will host “Housing for All” today, a pre-election Town Hall event in Sydney which will hear from politicians from Labor, the Greens and Independents, as well as housing experts and people with lived experience of the housing crisis.
There are now 57,750 vulnerable families and individuals waiting for a safe, secure, and affordable social housing property. That figure is a 7,822 jump from 49,928 in 2021.
The regions with a minimum wait time for social housing of a decade have also continued to increase along with the number of families seeking housing.
| Suburbs with waitlists of 10+ years for 2+ bedrooms | No. of households waiting for housing |
| Inner West | 1639 |
| Sutherland | 803 |
| Blue Mountains | 403 |
| St George | 1813 |
| Fairfield | 3848 |
| Liverpool | 2154 |
| Gosford | 1386 |
| Wyong | 1915 |
| Port Macquarie | 924 |
| Tweed Heads | 1088 |
“Too many people are struggling just to keep a roof over their heads. The fact that more than 57,000 households and individuals are waiting for social housing shows just how dire this situation is,” said CHIA NSW CEO Mark Degotardi.
“That’s why today, we’re gathering people who are feeling the pain of this housing crisis in front of the politicians who can do something about it.
Mr Degotardi said unless urgent action is taken by the next state government, the housing crisis will continue to worsen.
“We’ve had years of neglect by both sides of politics which has left this catastrophic situation of people facing uncertainty over whether they can keep a roof over their heads.
“Interest rates and rental prices are soaring, while vacancy rates are plummeting. These figures should be a wakeup call to every politician in this state – you cannot continue to sit idly by while tens of thousands of everyday families and individuals struggle for the basic necessity of housing.
“This emergency will be hard to solve and we must start now. Investment in social and affordable housing delivered by community housing providers is the key. It will get people off the waiting list, out of housing crisis, and into long-term, secure homes,” said Mr Degotardi.
Housing for All event details can be found here: https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-housing-for-all-nsw-pre-election-town-hall-event
Media contact: Bron Matherson, 0438 844 765
About the Confront the Crisis campaign: The campaign is about putting pressure on all parties to commit to real, long-term investment in community and affordable housing in NSW, ahead of the NSW State Election. Learn more at confrontthecrisis.com