Figures released by the Labor Government today show that the number of people on the public housing waitlist has increased by over 8,600 since June 2020.
“Since June 2020, there has been a 36% increase in the number of people waiting to access secure and affordable housing,” said Shadow Housing Minister Steve Martin MLC.”
In Question Time in the Legislative Council Today, it was revealed that at the end of February, 32,609 Western Australians were waiting for a placement in a public housing property. Of these, 7,786 are priority applicants.
“The number of people on the public housing waitlist has been steadily increasing since the start of the COVID pandemic and we are seeing no end in sight. The Government don’t have an answer,” said Mr Martin.
“In the last month alone, over 540 people have joined the waitlist. However, they will be waiting a long time with a two-to-three-year average wait.
“Over 1,300 applicants have been waiting over 6 years to access public housing.
“This is simply not good enough,” said Mr Martin.
“The government must act immediately to alleviate the pressure on the housing waitlist and get the problem under control.”
