Hundreds of HousingSA homes are lying vacant around the state as more than 23,000 people languish on public housing waiting lists.
Many of these 23,000 are forced to live on the streets while they wait.
In Kilburn alone 33 houses have remained empty, some for over two years.
Some of these properties have been sold or are for sale, but many are immediately suitable for tenants who’re inexplicably being kept outside the front door.
Record unemployment rates and rising rental prices mean more people than ever are seeking assistance in finding affordable housing.
Many of the homes listed by the government as ‘scheduled for maintenance’ have already been significantly renovated.
Documents obtained through freedom of information show over $323,000 has been spent maintaining and renovating the 33 still-vacant properties.
One Garland Avenue home, which has been vacant for over two years, has had over $21,000 of maintenance and yet remains empty.
The government partly attributes the lengthy vacancy periods to their public housing sales program, in which houses must be offered to low-income earners before being opened to the market.
A government spokesperson says that the drive for a better balance of public and private housing is a chief reason behind the high number of sales in the suburb.
“There is no doubt that Governments inherit decisions of the past so there are pockets of Adelaide that were built with very high levels of social housing,” he said.
“Rann Government policies have meant that 15 per cent of affordable housing is now delivered in every development to create a better social mix. HousingSA's sales programs are targeted to encourage private ownership in suburbs where there is a concentration of old Trust houses.”
Critics believe too many public homes are being sold.
The Housing Trust Tenants’ Association president Julie MacDonald said the government’s sales program is outstripped by demand.
“They are reducing our housing stock substantially when we need more housing,” Ms MacDonald said.
“They claim to be building over 2000 new homes, mostly from Federal stimulus money, but public housing won’t get many of those homes.”
Shadow housing minister Stephen Wade urged the government to expand the public housing program and better manage existing stock.
“Not only has Labor sold off thousands of homes since 2002, they are failing to properly manage the houses they have,” he said.
The HousingSA vacancy rate is over three per cent.
John Curtin has been on the HousingSA waiting list for 19 years. He lives with his wife and two children in the garden shed of another HousingSA property.
“I can’t believe we’re still living in a shed. I can’t sleep at night because the kids are cold and now they’re both really sick,” he said.
Mr Curtin said he would happily accept any of the Kilburn properties.
“We’re not fussy. We’d take what ever we could get,” he said.
John Curtin’s case is not unique, according to Shelter SA executive director Gary Wilson.
“It seems a shame that there are so many properties available and unoccupied in public housing when the waiting list is so long and the state wants to cut homelessness,” he said.
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