It's been more than two years since record floods hit the Northern Rivers region. As The new South Wales Reconstruction Authority wades through the difficult task of rehousing flood survivors, some in the community are taking matters Into their own hands.
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00:00More than 600 flooded houses, acquired by the state government, now seemingly abandoned.
00:09But behind these fences, people are moving back in.
00:13Why wouldn't I live here?
00:14These houses are very nice, they're very safe, we're looking after them, and the government
00:18hasn't offered any solutions to the housing crisis.
00:22It seems ridiculous to me that in a town with over 600 empty houses now, that there is such
00:28a rental issue, you know, so many people pay so much.
00:31The government says under its housing buyback scheme, eligible people can apply to live
00:37in the houses, otherwise they are off limits.
00:40There's not some sort of free-for-all that you find an empty home, you rip off the plywood
00:44and you go in there and sleep out.
00:46If you're going to do that, go through the proper process, otherwise we're forced to
00:52remove you.
00:53The government's bought back these houses, so they are already public housing.
00:57The government owns them, taxpayers are paying for them, so they should provide shelter
01:02to those in need.
01:03The NSW Reconstruction Authority says it has 2,800 flood-free home sites in the planning
01:10pipeline across the Northern Rivers region.
01:13But so far, these fences are one of the few indications that anything is going on.
01:20Local councillor Ellie Bird has seen the city's housing woes up close in her role as head
01:25of recovery organisation Resilient Lismore.
01:29It's very difficult because you can't just build houses overnight.
01:33And that's what we need, right?
01:34We need more houses.
01:36The community insists it should not be locked out of the process.
01:41I think it's been a very large collective pain for a lot of the local community to go
01:45through the flood, then see the houses boarded up and then just sitting there, and then to
01:49know that people are also homeless and suffering.
01:52A community fighting for a place to call home.