Housing ACT rejected an offer of five future public housing dwellings in Canberra's city centre despite them being earmarked for the block by three government ministers.
The City Renewal Authority wrote to Housing ACT in August 2022 to confirm whether the government-run agency tasked with managing the city's public housing stock required the five dwellings flagged for the block.
The authority, which was preparing the block for sale, had sought to confirm the specifications Housing ACT needed for the dwellings, which would have been a requirement for the developer to build.
"I've had a few conversations about this today and I can confirm that we have no interest in taking the allocation in the future development," a Housing ACT official wrote back a little over six hours later.
But the five dwellings had been included in targets set for the site by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Housing Minister Yvette Berry and then urban renewal minister Rachel Stephen-Smith in 2019.
Ms Berry defended the decision on Wednesday, telling Legislative Assembly question time there were a number of issues Housing ACT considered to decide whether homes would be suitable for tenants.
"One of the things that Housing ACT takes into account is things like the strata requirements that might be involved in a multi-unit property ... and that can increase the cost of public housing," Ms Berry said.
"Sometimes the units themselves are just not appropriate, because the other thing that Housing ACT does when it builds or purchases properties is to make sure that they are as accessible as possible. ... And sometimes these kinds of units just don't meet the needs of public housing tenants."
Ms Berry noted community housing providers also rejected the units that were offered to them as part of the proposed development.
Ms Berry took on notice a question of how many times Housing ACT had rejected properties it had been offered in past four years.
The exchange between the City Renewal Authority and Housing ACT was revealed in documents obtained under freedom of information laws by the Greens' Jo Clay.
Ms Clay later told the Legislative Assembly Ms Berry's arguments supporting Housing ACT's decision did not make sense.
"I think in the midst of a housing crisis, it's really important that we get serious about answers to what is a serious problem and that we take every single allocation of housing. Five public homes that would give homes for five families," Ms Clay said.
Ms Clay said it was strange to say accessibility requirements were an issue when Housing ACT was offered the opportunity to specify its requirements.
"In 2019, the minister made a notifiable instrument recognising this block as suitable for public housing. Obviously, the government knew at this time that this would be a multi-unit site ... So it does not make sense that the minister said the cost of strata might be the reason to reject this housing," she said.
