St Vincent de Paul Society NSW is appealing for significant investment in social housing, as waiting lists grow across the Hunter.
The latest figures show residents’ demand has increased by 28%, throughout the region, in the past year.
Now, the organisation, which assists people experiencing poverty and inequality, wants to see others afforded the safety and security of a place to call home.
Overall, the need for social housing across the state has risen by 15%, over a 12-month period, from 49,928 to 57,550 applicants.
And, the current statistics – released by the Department of Communities and Justice – represent the greatest demand since 2016.
“The number of applicants locally has climbed by 28% from 3,902 to 5,011 over the last year,” St Vincent de Paul Society Maitland/Newcastle social justice representative Sister Carmel Hanson said.
“Without a stable, affordable home, the difficulty of holding down a job, caring for a family, or even having enough food to eat regularly all increase significantly.
“The effects of housing insecurity and homelessness compound with other kinds of disadvantage to ensure people experiencing long-term and acute poverty remain excluded from society at large.
“It has been a long-term position of the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW that more social housing needs to be built, particularly in the Hunter.
“With more people on the waiting list, it only increases the urgency for those homes to be made available as soon as possible.”
Research commissioned by the St Vincent de Paul Society also highlights its argument.
It showed that if the government built 5,000 new social housing dwellings every year for a decade, the NSW waiting list would be reduced by three quarters.
“St Vincent de Paul Society members provide assistance to people experiencing hardship and disadvantage every day and an all-too-common situation is pressure and uncertainty around housing,” Sister Hanson said.
“In the past year, more than half of them seeking assistance in the local area were experiencing housing stress.
“High and unaffordable housing costs mean that people are having to forgo other basics, such as food, heating and cooling, or essential medicines.
“And, given the lengthening social housing waiting list and ongoing housing crisis, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find affordable homes, meaning already vulnerable people are pushed into homelessness.
“There is a solution and it’s a simple one: more social housing dwellings need to be built.”
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