Fears over housing future

Anxious tenants waiting to find out who will have to leave

AGED pensioner Hedy Thomas is one of about 20 people waiting to find out if she can keep living at an affordable housing complex in Hobart after six years as a tenant.

It was revealed last week some unsupported tenants at the former Common Ground premises on Goulburn St were facing uncertainty after they were told they may need to leave the complex now overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Artist in residence Hedy Thomas, 67, said residents were anxious to find out who may have to leave in the coming months.

“I always believed that if I paid my rent on time and made a positive contribution to supporting my less fortunate neighbours to stay housed, I would never face housing uncertainty again,” she said.

“The very thought of trying to find affordable rental housing in the current market has increased my stress levels and is already having a negative effect on my wellbeing.”

Ms Thomas said she understood she would have her status re-evaluated by Housing Connect in the coming weeks.

Fellow resident Joanne Robinson, a disability support pensioner, said she believed she would be able to remain living at Goulburn St, but would fight to help her neighbours stay.

“We have built a community here and it works — we support each other,” she said.

Common Ground Tasmania built 97 units across two sites in 2012, based on a New York housing and homelessness model.

The project was established with a 50-50 mix of low wage earners and people with a history of homelessness.

In November 2016, the board — which included former premier Paul Lennon — announced it was seeking a non-government organisation to take over the properties.

The Salvation Army has managed the two state government-owned complexes since then. They will continue to manage the Campbell St site, but after July 1 Anglicare will take over the Goulburn St site after winning a DHHS tender. A department spokesman said the decision to separate the two sites was due to there being no economy of scale in operating them as one.

Information provided by the department during the tender process indicated there were 21 unsupported clients, who are not eligible for social housing, living in the Goulburn St complex.

A spokesman said the department would work with those tenants as their leases expire. A letter sent to residents from the DHHS this week said most changes as Anglicare came on board would be very minor.

“No one will be required to move out if they do not have other appropriate accommodation to move into,” the letter reads.

Former managing director Liz Thomas writes in a Talking Point article today that those facing possible eviction into a “supercharged housing rental market” were not on equal footing.

“They cannot hope to compete alongside tourist dollars and prospective tenants with higher earning capacity,” she writes.

THE decimation of the Common Ground social housing model by the State Government is a remarkable loss and should not be allowed to pass unnoticed.

Hobart is suffering growing pains, the pains of becoming a trendy tourist and lifestyle destination. Whilst there is a sense of optimism as cranes, once a rarity in Hobart, dot our skyscape, there is a downside. Housing shortages and rental affordability are topics of everyday conversation and the stock of rentals has been reduced by 1000 properties due to the popularity of short stay accommodation. Prospective tenants are not equal. Some people have the personal and professional skills and networks to find their way through the cutthroat competition of the rental market. Others are less fortunate.

Tenants of the former Common Ground housing project have spoken about their concerns and anxiety for their housing. They spoke with passion, anger and genuine fear about their future and well they might as the decision to abolish Common Ground and terminate the leases of up to 25 affordable housing tenants thrusts them into a choked rental market. The offer of supporting tenants to find alternatives is cold comfort and one must ask what the Government stands to gain in the destruction of a community and social fabric that has supported some of our most vulnerable Tasmanians.

The success of Common Ground in Tasmania has been lauded and independently verified by work of the University of Queensland and University of Tasmania.

As a community we should challenge not only the decision but also call it into question when, less than two years ago, the model was reviewed by the State AuditorGeneral, who concluded it was effective and government funding represented value for money. Once a pathfinder, Tasmania will suffer the ignominy of being the first state to shut a successfully operating Common Ground site.

The introduction of the Tasmanian Common Ground social housing model was in response to the rate of homelessness in Greater Hobart being higher than any other capital. It was about getting chronically homeless people housed and keeping them housed. They were Hobart’s hidden homeless, their average age was 38 and their length of homelessness averaged 10 years. Many suffered chronic mental health conditions and were at risk of premature death if they remained trapped in an endless cycle of living on the streets, crisis accommodation and prison.

The model was significantly cheaper than the cost of the government services homeless people had been using and was based on four principles.

It was permanent housing, not crisis accommodation and a team of on-site support workers helped tenants learn skills of tenancy and maintain their housing. Access was restricted to tenants and their visitors and monitored by a 24/7 concierge and security service but, most importantly, there was a focus was on inclusiveness and community. People who had experienced homelessness lived together with low-waged tenants who offered valuable social modelling and fostered a belief

in the possibility of change.

Common Ground Tasmania was established under the chairmanship of Hank Petrusma who convened a group of preeminent businesspeople.

It was no easy journey, especially as Hobart City Council refused to offer relief from a rates impost that consumed 25 per cent of funding from the State Government. The vision was made possible by $1.5 million in support the board was able to raise and a team of skilled professionals who were tenacious about delivering a new model of social housing.

The facts told a story of unrivalled success and the public could reasonably assume the Common Ground model would continue as good public housing policy and extended across Tasmania.

Yet this Government has determined the model should be abolished and the Goulburn St site given to a traditional homelessness service, the same model that had failed formerly homeless tenants who were able to sustain permanent Common Ground tenancies. The Government may be unaware of the true ramifications and the extraordinary social outcomes.

Affordable housing tenants had an income of less than $45,000 a year and paid rent of $200 (plus) a week. Tenants were screened to ensure they could make a positive contribution and the prospect of making a meaningful contribution to the lives of others was particularly appealing to older people who shared their creative talents, gardening skills and cooking prowess with their neighbours.

How poignant that these people, who volunteered to join the Common Ground community and lived alongside formerly homeless neighbours who often exhibited challenging behaviours, are now facing eviction and a most uncertain future. How can they hope to compete with tourists and prospective tenants with higher earning capacity?

Common Ground Tasmania provided a common solution, a solution with honour and a solution with hope.

Common Ground Tasmania has gone, a brave and successful initiative is finished and the community, no matter what prosperity some of us may enjoy, can only be the poorer as a result.