IN times past I believe that some councils ran public housing. Since this was taken over by the state governments, we have found three things happening: housing stock is insufficient, there is poor maintenance of the existing stock, and long vacancies often emerge between tenants due to delays in refurbishment.
Perhaps local management by councils of public housing would help. Development fees could be used to expand housing stock, and the councils should be more aware of the specifics of local need. If new housing stock was spread throughout new developments, then the public negative view of housing tenants may also be less of a problem. We must do things better and differently, as it is clear the current directions are not working.
