Shocking new figures reveal that some high-income households, including a couple earning $168,000 a year – have been paying rock-bottom rents for taxpayer-funded social housing.
A Queensland government review found dozens of public housing tenants are high-income earners whose salaries far exceed the social housing eligibility limit.
Some even owned homes while living in public housing.
The findings were released just weeks after the Queensland Government reinstated tenancy and rent reviews, a safeguard the former Labor government had scrapped for more than five years.
Liberal National Party Housing Minister Sam O’Connor slammed Labor’s record, accusing it of neglect.
He said regular tenancy and rent checks would have identified households earning well above the eligibility threshold, who no longer qualified for subsidised housing.
‘Forty-five per cent of all social housing tenants had not had their eligibility checked during this time period,’ O’Connor told Parliament on Tuesday.
‘The former Labor government knew about it for a long time,’ he added, noting that the Queensland Audit Office had recommended reinstating checks in July 2022, advice that was ignored.
O’Connor said the early results of the reviews were deeply concerning.’We’ve already uncovered homeowners and dozens of high-income households living in taxpayer-funded housing while thousands of families languished on Labor’s record social housing waitlist,’ he said.
One case involved a Townsville couple earning $168,000 a year who were paying just $187 a week for a social housing property.
Others included tenants who already owned property or earned well above the $80,000 eligibility threshold.
Social housing tenants are unable to own or part-own property in or overseas, but there are some exceptions in the case of marriage breakdown, domestic violence or natural disaster-impacted areas.
Since July 1, more than 2,000 tenancy reviews, have been carried out.
The blitz revealed 76 households earning above the income cap and nine tenants who already owned homes while holding a social lease.
It also resulted in 13 households being shifted to market rent after failing to disclose income.
The reviews have also delivered relief for struggling families. One in four tenants had their rent cut immediately, in some cases by as much as $70 a week.
‘Because Labor turned a blind eye, we’ve found almost one in four tenants paying too much, and their rent has now been reduced immediately,’ O’Connor said.
‘This is exactly why we brought reviews back, to make sure Queenslanders in social housing are treated fairly, and that taxpayer-funded homes are going to those who need them most.’
There are currently more than 52,000 people on Queensland’s social housing waitlist.
This is compared with 66,000 in NSW, 65,000 in Victoria, 21,000 in Western , 14,000 in South , 5100 in Tasmania and almost 6000 in the Northern Territory.
Queensland’s government has committed $5.6 billion over four years to deliver 2000 social and affordable homes a year.
The annual eligibility checks were launched to confirm social housing tenants still meet income and asset thresholds, with market rent to be charged to people who do not verify their earnings.
Social housing tenants will have rent calculated at 25 per cent of a household’s assessable income and if found to pay less, they can be subject to a maximum $15 weekly increase, per year.