'Left behind': Newcastle fights for its fair share of social housing funds

The latest figures from June 2024 show that more than 1800 people are waiting for public housing in the Newcastle area, with another 140 on a priority waiting list, according to the November council meeting motion.

Those people can expect to wait five to 10 years to secure a home.

With the third round of HAFF funding imminent, Newcastle councillors want the city to make its case again.

Greens councillor Joel Pringle said it was unfortunate Newcastle had been left out of the first two rounds of funding.

"We know that local housing organisations are ready to go with great social and affordable housing projects, and just one of those projects ... is Rail Bridge Row," he said.

"This is a project on a council-owned site that represents an exciting new step for council to play a very active role in developing new housing for people on lower incomes and ensure that our communities remain affordable for more people and they remain diverse.

"This is a project that is ready-made for HAFF funding, and I've got no doubt that a very strong application will be put forward."

The council issued an expression of interest this year for a community housing partner to deliver affordable housing through the Rail Bridge Row project on the old heavy rail corridor on Hunter Street.

The HAFF was established in November 2023 to provide funding to support and increase social and affordable housing, as well as other acute housing needs including those of Indigenous communities and housing for women, children and veterans.

The fund was credited with $10 billion when it was established. The third round is expected to open late January next year.

While the next round has been welcomed by the Housing Industry Association (HIA), managing director Jocelyn Martin said the government needs to be clearer about what has been funded and what has been built.

"Australians deserve clarity about what is real progress and what is simply approved funding," she said.

"The government has talked about delivering 40,000 homes, but at this stage those figures reflect potential funding, not completed dwellings."

Ms Martin said Housing Australia's figures showed that as of this week, of the 18,650 homes supported under the first two rounds, just 889 have been completed with a further 9501 described as 'under construction'.

"We're still a long way from 40,000 finished homes, and unless the obstacles slowing delivery across the entire industry are addressed, those homes simply won't appear," she said.

Housing Australia chief executive Scott Langford said the next round of funding was about accelerating delivery and deepening partnerships.

"We've seen momentum building in the first two rounds, and now we're calling on partners to work together to provide all 40,000 homes by 2029," he said.

"Together, we can create lasting impact on the housing system and provide homes for those who need them most."

Newcastle councillors have asked chief executive Jeremy Bath to write to Mr Langford outlining the council's track record of delivering public and affordable housing through partnerships with government and community organisations.

Councillors have also asked Mr Bath to express the readiness of local housing organisations and industry to deliver projects in Newcastle to understand how additional funding under the HAFF could support the council's efforts.

Labor councillor Elizabeth Adamczyk said the council needed to pull the levers available to it.

"It's really, really, really clear that renters that are on lower incomes are being left behind and forgotten in the private market, that is why government needs to step in through these types of partnerships that the City of Newcastle has been doing for a number of years now and is looking to see where we can continue to explore that," she said.

The third round of the HAFF funding will unlock investment to deliver the remaining 21,350 social and affordable homes to achieve the national target of 40,000 new homes.