Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Answers to Questions Homelessness Homelessness The Hon. R.A. SIMMS Legislative Council Homelessness In reply to the Hon. R.A. SIMMS (12 May 2021). The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council Minister for Human Services Homelessness The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services): I have been advised: The SA Housing Authority, as at 31 April 2021, has 34,485 properties available for rent in South Australia. In addition, the community housing sector provides 11,177 properties for rent. The number of public houses that are vacant fluctuates daily, with various reasons why properties can be vacant. At any one time, approximately one-third of vacant properties are undergoing an offer process with a new tenant or are already under offer; one-third are undergoing routine basic vacancy maintenance to fix up wear and tear before new tenants can move in; and the final third are either undergoing substantial maintenance before they are available for rent or won't be returned to rental stock due to reasons such as sale or demolition as part of redevelopment and renewal of stock. It is also worth noting that the number of vacant properties peaked under the previous labor government in 2016-17 at nearly 2,200 across the state. The Marshall Liberal government is investing record amounts of funding into maintenance, upgrades and renewal of public housing, so naturally there will be periods where houses are untenantable. We are very pleased that hundreds of renovated public houses will become available for new tenants over the next two months following long overdue maintenance.