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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-09-14 Daily Xml
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COURT DELAYS

In reply to the Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (24 June 2010).

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management): The Minister for Housing has provided the following information:

Housing SA eligibility criteria is in place to ensure that housing assistance is directed towards those customers who require assistance to obtain safe, secure and affordable accommodation. Housing SA's eligibility criteria excludes customers who hold any interest in residential property, as in most cases customers who own residential property are able to alleviate their housing need without the assistance of Housing SA.

Housing SA does, however, recognise that in some situations a customer may hold ownership of residential property, but may not have access to this property to alleviate their housing needs. Housing SA therefore provides a number of exemptions where customers who hold residential property may be assisted by Housing SA.

These exemptions relate to:

marital/relationship breakdown where the applicant has left the jointly owned home which the other partner still occupies, and the applicant has an urgent need to be housed before property settlement takes place;

high needs that require an individual or family to be housed away from their property and the equity in the property is too little to purchase or rent a reasonable dwelling in the area in which they need to live;

medical, social or financial reasons for an individual or family to move away from their home to which they will eventually return, or where one partner leaves a jointly owned house due to domestic violence which the other partner still occupies during delayed property settlement procedures.

Housing SA properties are only left vacant where there is a need for the house to be vacant. Houses may need to be vacant for a number of reasons including renovations, regeneration, alterations, redevelopment, maintenance, during preparation for sale or whilst awaiting demolition. The 2009 Productivity Commission's Report on Government Services identified that South Australia had the lowest public housing turn-around times in Australia for 2007-08. If houses are available and suitable to be tenanted Housing SA will endeavour to provide the housing to the next person on the waiting list as soon as possible.

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