‘From Choice to Chance’: choice-based letting use in forced tenant relocations in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

The redevelopment of large social housing estates has emerged as a central policy response to address housing affordability and social housing crises in Australia. These projects, often done in partnership with the private sector, are seen as opportunities to leverage government land assets and increase densities to expand social and private housing stock. While extensive research has been conducted on the rationale and processes of estate renewal, less attention has been paid to tenant relocation practices. This is the focus of this article. In particular we explore the New South Wales Government’s use of a choice-based letting program called ‘My Property Choice’ (MPC) that involves tenants bidding via a ballot system for available social housing properties. We argue, despite policy rhetoric emphasising resident ‘choice’, MPC emerges as a chance-based process for tenants seeking to ‘win’ their desired relocation destinations.

Keywords:

• Choice based letting models
• social housing
• tenant relocation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Managed by the City Futures Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

2 In NSW, The Department of Family and Community Services (FACS) manages tenancies, while the NSW Land and Housing Corporation (LAHC), a public trading enterprise, is responsible for the management of the physical social housing properties. Both agencies sit under the portfolio and direction of the Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister for Social Housing.

3 A Current Affair is nightly Australian current affairs television program.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria de Lourdes Melo Zurita

Dr Marilu Melo is part of the Environmental Humanities program at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. With a disciplinary background in human geography and cultural anthropology, her research has explored the fields of social housing relocation projects, peri-urban disaster management, water governance and volumetric urbanism. A/Prof Kristian Ruming is an urban and economic geographer. His research interests centre on issues of housing and urban planning. Kristian's research has explored social housing provision in New South Wales, in particular residents' experience of their neighbourhood and the evaluation of policies tied to urban renewal and community regeneration.