Boosting Housing and Homelessness Support

Boosting Housing Supply, Increasing Support for Renters and Funding Homelessness Initiatives

04 April 2024

I know how important owning a home is to Rockingham locals.

So I’m proud to be part of the Cook Labor Government which takes seriously the need to provide housing for the most vulnerable members of our Community.

We are using every lever available to boost housing supply across Western Australia and increase support for renters.

We know supporting our most vulnerable and helping people get into housing is important to Western Australians.

This is why we have:

Made a record investment of $2.6 billion into social housing and homelessness measures, which will see the delivery of 4,000 social homes.
Made major planning reforms to cut red tape, boost housing supply and speed up the delivery of new homes across the state.
Accelerated social and affordable housing supply by investing $150 million in grants for community housing across the state.
Introduced tax reforms to incentivise the development and uptake of apartments, including a 50 per cent land tax concession on build-to-rent developments, stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan and under construction apartments and a new Keystart product aimed at high density living, boosting WA’s housing supply.
Boosted housing affordability through changes to Keystart such as increasing income eligibility and property price caps as well as adjusting Keystart’s interest rate setting policy, providing cost of living relief for WA families.
Increased social housing income eligibility limits five times since coming into Government in March 2017, ensuring those most vulnerable in our community remain eligible for social housing.

WA Rent Relief Program

We know that there are people in WA who are doing it tough, so we’re doing what we can to help renters across WA by providing a helping hand to those who need it the most and are at risk of eviction.

This will be delivered in partnership with WA’s most repsected community service organisations including Vinnies WA and Anglicare WA.

Assistance can be provided to clear rental arrears and where required, assist with future rent payments through a co-contribution payment, up to 50 per cent of the cost of weekly rent.

This program is designed to support tenants through difficult periods allowing the most financially vulnerable Western Australians who are at risk of eviction to get back on top of their payments and keep a roof over their heads.

Modernising Tenancy Laws

We’ve introduced legislation aimed at boosting protection for tenants, increasing clarity for landlords, and streamline bond return and the dispute resolution process. This legislation includes:

Restricting rent rises to once every 12 months.
Allowing for pets to be kept at a rental property, with the landlord only able to refuse in certain circumstances such as strata laws, or with the approval of the Commissioner.
Tenants being allowed to make certain minor modifications to their rental property, with the landlord only able to refuse in particular circumstances. Minor modifications includes things like flyscreens, a water-saving shower head or installing a vegetable garden.
Requiring all rental advertisements to state a fixed rent amount instead of a ‘price range’ or ‘offers from’.
Rent bidding - where landlords and property agents encourage prospective tenants to offer more than the advertised amount - will be banned.
A streamlined process to release security bonds at the end of a tenancy allows both tenants and landlords to apply for release of the bond. The Commissioner will decide bond release applications where the parties do not agree to the bond release amounts. This means that landlords and tenants will no longer need to go to Court for these tenancy disputes.

These reforms are coming into effect in stages, beginning in the mid-year.

Boosting Rental Supply

We’ve moved to regulate short-stay accommodation, to strike a better balance between the availability of tourist accommodation and the housing market.

Eligible short-stay accommodation owners can claim $10,000 who switch their property to the long-term rental market, increasing rental availability.

Read more here: Short-Stay Accomodation Reforms.

Supporting Homelessness Initiatives

As a Government, we have prioritised a Housing First Approach in line with the All Paths Lead to a Home, WA's first 10-year strategy on homelessness, which prioritises providing stable accommodation to rough sleepers while ensuring they have the wrap-around supports they need to sustain their tenancy.

That is why we have:

Invested $225 million to support homelessness initiatives, supporting more than 130 organisations and projects to deliver critical services.
Added over 155 crisis accomodation places.
Opened Boorloo Bidee Mia - low barrier supported accomodation for rough sleepers.
Delivered nearly $100 million for two Common Ground homelessness facilities with East Perth now under construction and Mandurah in the design phase.
Begun to deliver on our commitment of 100 homes through the Djuripiny Mia program, providing a supported landlord model that accommodates vulnerable and complex individuals.
Acquired the Murray Hotel (Wandjoo Bidi) providing capacity for up to 35 rough sleepers with low barrier, supported accommodation, helping those most in need.