Estate renewal study for Airds-Bradbury

NSW Health has published a study examining the impact of the renewal of Public Housing on the "health, particularly chronic disease, quality of life and wellbeing" of affected tenants. The 'health impact assessment' examines the short and long-term consequences of relocation for tenants affected by the demolition and redevelopment of Public Housing estates in Airds and Bradbury, near Campbelltown. 

The redevelopment project will deliver a 'mixed tenure' community of approximately 2000 dwellings, of which 30% will be Social Housing and 70% private market housing. Demolition, reconstruction, and tenant relocations are progressing slowly, and are expected to continue past 2020. According to the study, 3507 people lived in the estates when works commenced in 2011. Tenants have the opportunity to move back into Airds-Bradbury as new Social Housing becomes available, though many have opted to relocate elsewhere in the Campbelltown area. 

Above: land clearing works at Airds

The study describes the old estates as "poor quality", and posits that poor housing - particularly limited access to recreation spaces, healthy food, and social and health care services - is a driver of poor health. It also suggests that health issues experienced by Airds-Bradbury tenants are compounded by the area's status as "one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas in NSW". Given works commenced relatively recently, the study only makes short-term findings. 

In relation to the relocation and rehousing process, the study concludes broadly that the process has had "positive and negative health impacts, often dependent on the individual, the circumstances of their relocation and their perceived sense of control". Residents who were actively involved throughout the relocation process, and who received personalised support, reported a more positive impact.

Findings related to tenants leaving the 'poor' built environment of the old estates for higher quality housing were similarly mixed. Some reported "reduced stress, increased physical accessibility and an improved sense of privacy and safety", and positive impact related to the provision of housing according to their individual needs. Similarly, many reported increased feelings of safety and security. However, single people and childless couples reported negative psychological health impacts when required to move to smaller properties. 

The impact of relocation on tenants' community networks was identified as problematic. Many reported negative impacts, related to either displacement or isolation for those relocated within the depopulated estate. This is particularly concerning as such networks are something that, according to the report, "socioeconomically disadvantaged groups tend to rely quite strongly on...for their physical and mental health".

The study ultimately finds that housing providers and health organisations should attend to four major considerations in the administration of estate redevelopments:

"1. [New] housing and neighbourhood generally are planned and built to high design standards;

2. Disruptions and inconveniences to individuals and the community during the actual redevelopment are reduced to the minimum;

3. There are appropriate services and procedures in place to support residents during each stage of the planning, renewal and relocation process; and

4. The needs and preferences of individual residents are taken into account."

Though the scale of the Airds-Bradbury redevelopment is itself considerable, the study is of potentially broader relevance. Both the suite of Communities Plus projects and the renewal project at Cowper Street, Glebe, involve the demolition of Public Housing for 'mixed communities' at the 30-70 ratio. 

We welcome feedback from all tenants affected by estate renewal works, including those at Airds and Bradbury. This may be provided anonymously to contact [@] tenantsunion.org.au.

Affordable Housing projects in inner Sydney

Community Housing provider City West Housing has recently announced numerous developments in its portfolio of Affordable Housing. 

Ultimo sales and relocations

City West Housing is in the final stages of selling off eight nineteenth century houses in the inner Sydney suburb of Ultimo. The terrace properties have been used as Affordable Housing since their acquisition by City West in 1994. Records available on realestate.com.au provide that the package consists of six three-bedroom properties, one two-bedroom property, and one four-bedroom property. They are situated adjacent the TAFE Sydney Campus.

Above: seven of the eight terraces for sale

Five of the properties were sold in October and November 2015, and a further two were sold on 18 February 2016. According to a report in the Inner West Courier from February 2016, the final property will be sold in March 2016. 

Records published by real estate agency Cobden & Hayson indicate that the combined sales price of the seven properties sold to date is $12,010,000. The eighth property has a current estimated value of $1,600,000.

City West Housing has provided information regarding the relocation process for the eight affected households. Depending on the circumstances of the occupants, households were either relocated to other properties within the City West portfolio, or transitioned to alternative housing. City West paid the relocation costs of all households eligible to transition within their Affordable Housing portfolio.* 

Wigram Road Glebe development

City West Housing's 2015 annual report states that the provider is "in the process" of acquiring land adjacent the Mirvac Harold Park development on Wigram Road, Glebe. It provides further, "Our early design concepts indicate that we will deliver 76 units [here]. CWH will commence design and planning this year with construction estimated to commence in the latter half of 2016". Although information is not available on the mix of Affordable, Social, and private market housing to be delivered through this development, City West's current portfolio consists of 547 rental properties, of which 510 are provided as Affordable Housing. And recent City West construction projects have delivered Affordable Housing exclusively. 

Above: the site of the Mirvac Harold Park development

The Inner West Courier report from February 2016 concerning the Ultimo sales cites Chief Executive Janelle Goulding as stating that "City West Housing had committed" the money from the sale of the Ultimo terraces to funding the Harold Park development. 

Cowper Street Glebe development

City West Housing's 2015 annual report also confirms that the provider will be involved in the redevelopment of the NSW Land and Housing Corporation-owned site at Cowper Street, Glebe (previously discussed on this blog). The report states, "The Minister for Family and Community Services and The Treasurer have now approved the vesting of land to CWH. The site at Cowper Street will accommodate 95 affordable units". 

Our response

Inner Sydney is suffering from an acute shortage of affordable rental housing. The Centre for Affordable Housing's area snapshot provides that the City of Sydney LGA is a renting hotbed. Approximately 77,000 rental households live within the city's boundaries. Around 40% are classed as 'low income'. But just 6.3% of rental housing stock in the LGA is affordable for low income households. That figure is just 2.1% for very low income households. 

City West Housing's intent to deliver new Affordable Housing units through the Wigram Road development is therefore welcome in and of itself. But given the project appears to be funded largely or wholly by the sale of the Ultimo terraces, it is appropriate to look at what has been lost - as well as the particulars of what is to be gained. 

The Ultimo homes include six three-bedroom properties and one containing four bedrooms. Comments made by City West to the Inner West Courier suggest that the Wigram Road complex will consist overwhelmingly or even exclusively of one and two bedroom units; "...the reality is the demand in that area is for twos and ones"; "[Wigram Road] will allow us to house about 100 people". 

City West Housing is therefore trading a small number of large homes, capable of housing about 30 people, for a larger number of small ones. In doing so, it posits that demand for larger affordable residences in the inner city is lacking. But it is not entirely clear that this is the case. Though the Centre for Affordable Housing snapshot does note that "Lone person and couple only households comprise a significant proportion of all households" across the region, it also states that the area "has a diversity of housing demand, supply, needs and trends." Indeed, census data indicates that the area is home to 15,000 households of three or more persons living on or below the median income. And wait times for three and four bedroom properties managed by Social Housing landlords is consistently at 10 years or more throughout the inner city.

Of course, selling for the sake of building also requires the relocation of tenants. This process can be stressful and even traumatic if not handled with great sensitivity. 

Finally, it is worth considering the composition of larger households. Many are likely occupied by families with children. Without access to suitable, affordable housing, low and middle-income families will have no choice but to leave the area - thereby narrowing the social mix of the community as a whole. 

So whilst additions to Sydney's affordable rental stock are welcome, it is discouraging to see it delivered at the expense of diversity in Affordable Housing. Such a trade off is likely to see the needs of larger households - and ultimately the public at large - sold short.


* We welcome feedback from tenants affected by sales of Affordable and Social Housing on their relocation. This may be provided to contact [at] tenantsunion.org.au. Your anonymity will be respected.

Let's walk the talk in Waterloo

Cross posted from The Brown Couch

Today's entry on The Brown Couch is by Julie Foreman, Executive Officer at the Tenants' Union of NSW. 

Last Thursday (February 11), I attended a public meeting on the redevelopment of the Waterloo public housing estates hosted by Jenny Leong MP, one of two Members of Parliament representing the suburb. Over one hundred local tenants attended. Also in attendance was the Social Housing Minister, Brad Hazzard MP, shadow Social Housing Minister Tania Mihailuk MP, and FACS Deputy Secretary Southern Cluster, Paul Vevers. I was heartened by the level of interest and attendance by all stakeholders.

Can the Government balance competing interests and walk the talk in Waterloo?

Tenants expressed anxiety and confusion about the announcement. The following snippets capture the questions and concerns raised:

“Is my home being demolished?”

“When will I be moving?”

“Where will I be moving to?”

“Will I get a like-for-like house when I move?”

"Why do I have to lose my home, my community, my security?"

“I feel like my life will be on hold for the next 5 years."

“How are you going to deal with all the extra parking needed?”

“I am afraid of moving away from my health supports and friends”

“Will you cover my moving costs?”

“Why didn’t you take the last 10 years of consultations into account?”

“You just sprung it on us before Christmas with a flyer under my door!”

The Minister suggested to participants that meetings such as these just scare and raise anxiety. I believe they reflect honest and real concerns.

Unfortunately, the issues raised do not surprise me – they are what I have heard at every gathering (large, small or one on one) of social housing tenants facing or experiencing redevelopment. I heard it in Riverwood, Bonnyrigg, Minto, Claymore, and Ivanhoe. This is not to deny that there are also some tenants who want to move, in the hope of changing their overall circumstances.

What did surprise me was that FACS Housing and the Minister had not anticipated this response, and adjusted their usual announcement process accordingly. The public housing agency has been through this a number of times, and assures us over and over that they have learnt from their mistakes. 

The Minister did assure us at the meeting that he would make sure those affected in Waterloo would be treated sensitively, and be consulted at every step along the way. I am not yet cynical enough to believe that he was just ‘talking the talk’ and not prepared to ‘walk the walk’. That is because Minister Hazzard and Mr Vevers did make some commitments. He agreed that additional supports for tenants would be needed during this period. He agreed that with a local, annual turnover rate of between 8-9% of public housing tenants, those affected by redevelopment works could be rehoused within the area as works progressed. He indicated that he would personally hold regular, local consultations. And he said there would be no rush to relocate tenants. He even committed to answering questions raised at the meeting at a consultation he is to host this week.

So here at the TU we have put together a list to help all of us - tenants, FACS Housing, Minister Hazard, and community organisations - ‘walk the talk’, and thus increase the prospect of sensitive, appropriate and effective redevelopment. Collective learning from research commissioned by FACS Housing, built on consultations over a number of years with tenant groups and the non-government sector, informs the list:

- Acknowledge the strengths and history of the existing community;

- Progressively move people within the estate as new buildings are constructed;

- Undertake a social impact assessment to inform the best plans and processes for tenants and their communities;

- Fund additional supports and independent tenant advice while maintaining funding of existing services and supports;

- Include genuine community empowerment and involvement at appropriate levels;

- Don’t give undertakings that cannot be met;

- Make available past plans or reports on consultations, to enable tenants to participate in informed discussions;

- Make sure communication is clear, regular and takes place in different forms;

- Provide additional training and support to FACS Housing staff tasked with working as relocation officers. This training should include presentations from tenants who have lived through the experience of redevelopment in other areas;

- Undertake ongoing evaluation;

- Follow up and support tenants that have moved;

- Carefully consider allocations to ensure they are appropriate;

- Listen to tenants and treat them with respect! This sounds easy but is anything but if really taken seriously.

Similarly, research and past experiences have provided evidence on practices to avoid – worst practice principles, if you like. So on this note, be sure not to engage in:

- Tokenism in forming partnerships and building community involvement;

- Short-term 'quick fixes'. Good outcomes take time;

- Public representations and narratives of disadvantaged locations, which entrench the problem by exaggerating an area's dysfunction;

- Actions which merely displace the problem. Projects that merely move people to new locations do not solve problems of poverty and disadvantage.

Read more about what the experts say about best and worst practice in redevelopments here.

'Housing lotto': relocations from Millers Point and The Rocks.

Here's Ten News on the 'choice-based lettings' system – introduced to relocate tenants from Millers Point and The Rocks – in action.

If you're a social housing tenant at Millers Point and The Rocks and you've any questions or concerns about your housing, please speak with a tenants advocate from Redfern Legal Centre.

Information about relocations from Millers Point and The Rocks

From the long version of Minister Goward's media release announcing the sale of social housing at Millers Point and The Rocks:

Approach to the relocations process

Each tenant in Millers Point will be individually visited and notified that a relocations officer has been assigned to them and that an appointment will be made to discuss their relocation needs.

Specialist relocations officers are experienced staff members from the Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) who have experience of successfully relocating tenants, including older tenants and tenants with special needs. They are senior client services staff who have been selected for the role.

Initially, each tenant will be visited to undertake a housing needs assessment. This is a detailed assessment which involves understanding the individual needs of each member of the household and discussing their preferences for relocation in terms of location and the type of housing they need. Any special needs are identified in detail, including any medical needs, mental health issues, disabilities and other complex needs.

The specialist relocations officer will liaise with the family and friends of tenants if they wish for this and will also work with support services. The same officer works with the tenant throughout the process of relocation. The officer draws up a relocations plan for the tenant and their family which outlines the desired location and type of housing they will need, any adaptations they will need to their future property because of disability and the desired timing of their relocation, taking account of factors such as school term times and the availability of alternative accommodation.

The relocations plan outlines the financial assistance which will be available to cover costs arising from the relocation in line with existing Housing NSW policy. The same financial assistance will be offered to relocating community housing tenants.

The specialist relocations officer will help the tenant to view alternative properties if they cannot do this themselves. When an offer of alternative accommodation is accepted, the relocations officer will help the tenant to organise removalists and other aspects of the move such as dealing with utilities providers. The specialist relocations officer will help the tenant to establish support services in their new location, will provide them with information on community facilities in their new location and will visit them after their move to check how they have settled in and follow up on any outstanding issues.

Where there are tenants who wish to be relocated close to each other, for example long standing neighbours who provide support to each other, every effort will be made to accommodate this.
Where a tenant has disabilities, the specialist relocations officer will arrange for an Occupational Therapist to visit the new home with the tenant and make recommendations for adaptations to the property.

Attracting tenants to alternative locations

Under FACS policy, tenants are entitled to two offers of alternative accommodation. For the Millers Point relocations, FACS will use a new approach in addition to making offers to individual tenants.
As properties become available in locations identified by relocating tenants, these will be openly displayed in a location in Millers Point with photographs and supporting information. Open house sessions will be held in those properties.

Tenants will be able to visit several properties and several tenants will be able to visit the same property. Providing that the size of property is appropriate for the tenant’s household, the first tenant to accept the property will become the new tenant.

Some properties, such as those which are fully adapted for people with disabilities will need to be excluded from this process to make sure they are allocated to people who have specific needs.

Involvement of FACS, Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) and Aged Care Assessment Teams Where a tenant is elderly or frail or a tenant has complex needs such as mental illness, the relocations officer will be a Specialist Client Service Officer with experience in working with clients with special needs. Experienced staff from FACS-ADHC will also be engaged to work with these clients. People with mobility problems will generally be offered accommodation which has a lift or is on the ground floor.

If modifications such as grab rails are required, the Specialist Client Service officer will link with an Occupational Therapist to provide an assessment of their needs and arrange to have the necessary work completed, should elderly clients require additional supports to allow them to age in place, such as shopping assistance, FACS-ADHC staff will link these services to the new accommodation.

Elderly and vulnerable clients will also be offered a relocation package which includes the removalist packing and unpacking their belongings. Contact will also be made with family and support providers and the relocations officer will help the client to re-establish support services in their new location. In the case of Aboriginal clients, Specialist Client Service Officers will draw upon the skills of existing Aboriginal Specialist staff.

If an elderly tenant appears to be struggling to live independently, the Specialist Client Service Officer will visit them, and that officer has links to the Aged Care Assessment Team and can make a referral for a specialist assessment to be undertaken to determine whether Commonwealth funded support packages should be provided.

Reimbursement of costs

Tenants’ reasonable costs of moving will be reimbursed as per FACS-Housing NSW policy. This will include removalist fees, utility connections, redirection of mail and new school uniforms where children have to change schools.

Relocating community housing tenants will also be eligible for these payments. Consistent with current policy, tenants will also be reimbursed for improvements they have made to their homes as long as those improvements were approved, subject to a reduction for fair wear and tear.
Voluntary relocations

If required, Housing NSW can use its powers under the Residential Tenancy Act 2010 to terminate a tenancy if more than two offers of alternative accommodation are refused by a tenant. However, every effort will be made to ensure that it won’t be necessary to go to the Tribunal by offering well- presented and maintained accommodation wherever possible.