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Shelter TAS - Housing and Homelessness Peak
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Shelter TAS eNews
Monday 12th April 2021

Shelter Tas' 2021 State Election Asks

Join Shelter Tas' call to increase essential social housing to 10% of all homes

Everyone needs and deserves a safe, appropriate, affordable and secure home, but thousands of Tasmanians are living in housing hardship due to rising rents and too few affordable homes. Rents across the State have increased by over 35% in the last 5 years.

Tasmania has led the way with our Affordable Housing Strategy and Action Plan, and recent boosts to social housing. In 2021, we need to re-calibrate the Strategy to meet current demand and plan for the future.

With an imminent State election, we call on on all candidates  to support Shelter Tas’ longstanding target of 10% of dwellings to be affordable social rental housing. This will double our level of social housing (currently at 5-6%). Tasmania needs a target that will keep pace with our growing population and address the growing rental crisis.

The 10% target is endorsed by all the housing and homelessness services across the State. Housing is the necessary foundation for education, work, social participation, health and wellbeing, and we know that too many Tasmanians are without safe and affordable housing. The waitlist for social housing is at 3,813 households, and on average, even people with the highest priority applications have to wait more than a year for a home.

As the housing costs rise across the State, more Tasmanians are facing unaffordable rents and homelessness than ever before. We will need the incoming State Government to join our vision for safe, secure, affordable and appropriate housing for all, especially for Tasmanians earning low incomes.  It is imperative to plan now to build the essential safety net of 10%. Building these new homes will stimulate the construction sector and provide much needed jobs in all regions.
 
We are pleased to see other peaks are following our lead in calling for the 10% target, and welcome support from TasCOSS and National Shelter.

We call on all organisations and individuals to join Shelter Tas in advocating for 10% affordable social housing, to boost the current rates of building, and address the chronic shortage of affordable rentals. In the lead up to this State election, all candidates need to know that housing is Tasmania’s number one priority. Whoever leads Tasmania will inherit the responsibility to fix our housing crisis, and the sure way to do this is to deliver 10% affordable social housing.

Shelter is working with our members to advocate for our election priorities. To see Shelter Tas' budget submission and more information on homelessness in Tasmania, click here

Shelter Tas' key priorities for election 2021:

  1. Fund the community and public housing sector to deliver an additional 1,000 social housing dwellings per year for this 4 year term of government, and commit to the 10 year target of 10% of all Tasmanian dwellings to be affordable social housing.
  2. Set a timeline to strengthen, reform and modernise the Residential Tenancy Act to improve conditions in Tasmania’s rental market.
  3. Ensure that the comprehensive Tasmanian Housing Strategy (recommended by PESRAC) prioritises social and affordable rental housing and includes a housing focus in all policies approach.  
  4. Commit to ongoing and sustainable funding to enable the homelessness sector to provide support, and tenancy services to meet increasing demand across Tasmania.
  5. Commit to affordable housing in all neighbourhoods, including in-fill development in established inner-city suburbs; and measures to ensure that Local Government Planning Schemes and infrastructure (power, water and sewerage) do not delay the delivery of affordable and social housing.
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Find our 2021-22 Budget Submission and 2020 Annual Report here.
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Shelter Tas is supported by the Department of Communities Tasmania.
Copyright © 2021 Shelter Tasmania Inc., All rights reserved.
This eNews has been sent to you because you have indicated that you are interested in receiving updates and information from Shelter Tas.

Thanks to all contributors for their submissions and feedback to the eNews. As content comes from many different sources, views expressed are not necessarily those of Shelter Tas. We welcome your input to the eNews - please send suggestions or articles to comm@sheltertas.org.au for consideration.

Shelter Tasmania Inc. Suite 33 110-114 Collins Street Hobart, Tas 7000 Australia

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