Public housing goes on market as wait lists stay long

Homes are more likely to be sold than units as the moratorium on the sale of public housing in the Territory is being lifted.
A spokeswoman for Housing Minister Chris Burns says the number of dwellings to be sold is not yet known and decisions will be made on a case by case basis.
Meanwhile the waiting times for public housing in Alice Springs are five years and two months for non-pensioner one-bedroom units; three years and 10 months for pensioners; three years and nine months for two-bedroom homes and four years and 10 months for three-bedroom dwellings.
Dr Burns says the sales will follow “significant work undertaken to build more dwellings” but will not “see a return to the CLP policy of selling off thousands of dwellings, pocketing the returns with no significant upgrading or replacing of housing stock.
“Prior to 2001, the CLP were selling public housing dwellings at a record rate – some 781 dwellings in the 98-99 year alone, at a time when the wait list stood at over 3350 people.”
He says properties will be assessed depending on location relative to services, shops, facilities and transport; age and condition of dwellings; level of concentration of public housing; demand for that particular type of dwelling; suitability for priority / complex needs housing; future redevelopment potential, and / or opportunity to contribute to home ownership and affordable rental targets (i.e. unit complex redevelopments).