The number of homeless people who are sleeping rough in Maitland is on the rise and according to local authorities it's about to get worse.
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A local charity and Member for Maitland Jenny Aitchison said a lack of funding, a shortage of rentals, public and affordable housing and the demise of the Federal Government's JobSeeker and JobKeeper programs have all contributed to more people living on Maitland streets.
Ms Aitchison said she is extremely concerned about the number of people contacting her office who can't find accommodation or have been on a public housing wait list - one for up to 19 years - and Maitland Neighbourhood Centre Manager, Sarah Adams can concur.
While the Neighbourhood Centre does not provide accommodation, it can provide food and refer people to the appropriate authorities for shelter.
"We have people coming here daily looking for emergency accommodation," Ms Adams said. "The demand on our service for this has grown about 30% and we are only one of several services."
A spokesperson for Hume Community Housing said Hume's data showed an increase of 24% in the need for temporary accommodation.
"Hume Community Housing is currently working with the NSW Government's Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC) to upgrade several properties it manages the rental for," the spokesperson said.
"Sometimes extensive capital works are required on vacant properties and as such we are implementing a value for money assessment on 22 properties in conjunction with LAHC - the property owner.
"Hume assesses every property at the end of a tenancy and conducts maintenance to ensure the property is to a lettable standard and can accommodate the requirements of future tenants. Our aim is always to ensure all vacant properties are turned around quickly to meet the high-demand for affordable housing in the region.
"While there are no immediate plans in place for Hume to build new properties in the area, we are always on the look-out for future opportunities to develop much needed affordable housing.
"Hume also runs headlease programs that utilise the private rental properties to assist in bolstering the supply of affordable homes," the spokesperson said.
Ms Adams said she had someone contact her recently who said they could manage up until the Federal Government subsidies ended. "Now they have to decide whether to pay for rent, food or electricity," she said.
"As for housing - there's just nothing. We are struggling to point people in the right direction. Some people are even seeking shelter in children's playgrounds over night because there is nowhere else to go," Ms Adams said.
She has been trying desperately over the past week to find emergency accommodation for local battlers but to no avail. The Neighbourhood Centre does not provide accommodation because it doesn't receive homeless funding.
"We can however feed them and direct them to other organisations that may be able to source accommodation. We have been able to help with blankets, sleeping bags and pillows but our supply has now dried up.
"There are a lot of no vacancy signs on Maitland's motels and caravan parks are also full, so that just highlights how tight the situation has become.
"There has been a marked increase in the number of people seeking help since government supplements dried up and what makes matters worse is that some landlords have put up weekly rentals. This may be only $10 or $20 a week but for many this is huge," Ms Adams said. "If we could get homeless funding we would snatch it up in a minute."
Ms Aitchison said there is a site called Link to Home that she has been referring some people to.
"But I have had a number of cases recently - one woman who said she would take anything between Newcastle and Branxton but couldn't get a thing and that's a real problem. People can't even get into motels."
She said another problem associated with the dwindling supply of accommodation is the number of people moving to regional centres like Maitland from cities. "Since COVID many people have been able to work from home. Some have moved from Sydney to our region contributing to the short supply of rentals and public housing.
"One person I have spoken to has been on a government housing list for 19 years and if they have been waiting that long to get accommodation that's just not good enough."
