From the General Manager For those of you who have been feeling the heat this summer, you may be glad that this newsletter heralds the onset of Autumn.
This is my favourite newsletter as while I write this, we have a whole year of opportunity ahead of us. You will find a big focus on art in this edition – starting with the announcement of our annual Tenant Art Show on 24 May . This is one of the highlights of our year and it just keeps getting better. I would absolutely encourage you to think about submitting your work or just come along and have a look at the outstanding talent we have walking among us. A shout out to Edward who has shared his personal journey through art with us in this edition. On a more sobering note, I would like to acknowledge the challenges that we face in 2023 working our way through the worst housing crisis that many of us will have seen. You may know that a normal vacancy rate in WA is about 3% of rental properties at any one time – that number now hovers around 0.7%. This is causing hardship across so many fronts and Housing Choices WA is doing everything we can to sustain the tenancies we have, rather than exiting people to potential housing
stress or homelessness and exacerbating the issue. I would also ask of you during this tough time to be as patient and understanding as you can with our team as they commit to this mission. We are genuinely working as hard as we can – and we appreciate when we are treated with respect and kindness. Part of our work to tackle the housing crisis is our newly funded Djuripiny Mia program, announced and funded by the Minister for Housing late last year. Over the course of 2023, we will be bringing on 100 properties, with referrals from our support partners, for people who have ended up with no home and are
sleeping rough. We are very proud of being at the forefront of ending
homelessness in WA and look forward to telling you more about the successes of this program as they emerge.
I hope you enjoy the Autumn news. I wish
everyone the very best over the Easter Break and hope
you get to spend time doing what you enjoy.
Natalie Sangalli General Manager WA
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