Residents of a small mining town in WA have called on the state government to stop demolishing public housing, in the midst of a housing crisis.
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00:00 This Koolgaardie house is what real estate agents call a renovator's delight.
00:06 It was damaged by storms in 2018 and needs significant repairs.
00:11 It could be fixed if they took the time to fix it.
00:14 I mean, they've been saying some of the houses that they are on waiting list to be
00:18 fixed.
00:19 It shouldn't take six years.
00:21 But it's now scheduled for imminent demolition.
00:24 The government is planning to sell the vacant land.
00:27 I know of three people that have approached state housing to buy these.
00:33 And they said no, they're not selling them.
00:35 They're going to do them up.
00:36 That was the story they kept getting.
00:37 The Department of Communities says it would cost more than $350,000 to fix the house.
00:43 The local council has appealed to the housing minister to stop the demolition.
00:47 It's ridiculous that they went up to demolish a brick house with a really solid jar of timber
00:53 roof.
00:54 The owners of Koolgaardie's supermarket tried to buy a government house which has
00:58 been vacant for several years.
01:00 And then we've tried to purchase this building directly behind us.
01:03 They came back with saying, no, sorry, it's not for purchase.
01:07 It'll be earmarked for repairs.
01:09 And that was four years ago.
01:13 The department says it has built 23 new social housing homes in this region over the past
01:17 three years.
01:18 26 have been refurbished and substantial maintenance has been completed on more than 250 other
01:24 homes.
01:25 We're throwing everything at it.
01:27 There's not a time or moment which I draw a line in the sand and say, that's all we
01:33 can do.
01:34 A worsening housing crisis with no end in sight.
01:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]