An apparent backflip has left the mother of five children living in an "unsuitable" and "unsafe" three-bedroom house which was supposed to be a temporary stop after she was moved from a mouldy property when it needed urgent and disruptive repairs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Aleece Robinson, 27, was in March moved out of a three-bedroom house in Evatt with a significant mould infestation after Housing ACT determined the bathroom needed to be ripped out and replaced.
Housing ACT offered Ms Robinson, who was then heavily pregnant with twins, the choice to stay at Evatt while the bathroom was rebuilt or to move to a temporary new home.
Ms Robinson said she was then moved to Kaleen and was told by a Housing ACT representative the lease would initially be for three months and then extended monthly until a larger home could be found. Ms Robinson was told she was not expected to return to Evatt.
She said Housing ACT had refused to move her to a larger house when she was pregnant and had told her she needed proof of the twins' live birth before her application for a larger house could be accepted.
But Ms Robinson was told in November by a different Housing ACT staff member the Kaleen house was no longer considered a transition home because she had not chosen to return to the Evatt house after work there was completed.
Ms Robinson said the experience had been stressful and depressing while managing a big family.
"I keep believing what they're saying and hoping that they've been honest and then they're doing the complete opposite. So I just don't know what else to do because I've hoped and hoped," Ms Robinson said.
In November, a Canberra Health Services' parenting enhancement program nurse wrote to Housing ACT to express serious safety concerns about the risks to Ms Robinson, her children and her children's father living at the Kaleen house.
"The family are currently residing in a 3 bedroom property that is unsuitable due to the size of the home, limited living areas to promote play and child development, unsafe access for children to a busy main road and the ongoing presence of mould in the bathroom which is impacting this [family's] health and well being," the letter, seen by the Sunday Canberra Times, said.
Ms Robinson said Housing ACT staff had told her no four or five-bedroom homes were available.
"A five bedroom would be great but I would also be grateful for a four bedroom. Just enough living space for the kids. It's just irritating they tell you there's nothing," she said.
A spokeswoman for ACT Housing said the agency was prohibited by law from disclosing any information relating to an individual tenancy.
She said the average wait time for a transfer to a four or five-bedroom home was 322 days for transfers completed since June 30, 2019.
The spokeswoman said there were 842 four-bedroom homes managed by Housing ACT, which represented 7.7 per cent of public housing properties in the territory.
Of those, 21 were currently vacant. Not all were available for allocation because some were newly built and needed final inspections, newly vacated and needed maintenance or upgrades, or were properties which had been identified for renewal or sale, she said.
More than 97 per cent of four and five-bedroom homes were occupied, the spokeswoman said.
READ MORE:
Housing ACT manages 188 five-bedroom homes, which represents 1.7 per cent of public housing properties. Five of those were vacant.
The spokeswoman said the ACT government would invest $1 billion in public housing in the 10 years to 2025.
"The ACT government is delivering the renewal of 1000 public housing properties and the growth of at least 260 homes. 60 of these were added to the program as a stimulus measure with the specific goal of adding homes that would meet the needs of groups like people with disabilities and large families," she said.
"An additional 140 homes have been committed through the Governing and Parliamentary Agreement. The program responds to a number of challenges facing a strong social housing portfolio, including that of mismatch of housing stock and tenants' needs as they move through the life cycle."
A report prepared by Homelessness Australia and Everybody's home in August found there was a shortfall of 3000 social housing properties in Canberra.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
