THE Cook government could wipe $50 million off social housing renters’ energy bills every year by making homes energy efficient, and community housing homelessness services groups are calling on the government to retrofit all of Western Australia’s 42,000 social housing dwellings by 2030.
Shelter WA’s call came on the same day that the Albanese and Cook governments announced more than $8 million in funding to deliver 16 new social housing dwellings in southern Perth’s Coolbellup.
The housing will be delivered for seniors on the public housing waitlist.
The funding forms part of the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, which around the country is delivering around 4,000 social homes. The federal government has already delivered more than $209 million to Western Australia through the program.
Retrofitting WA
Shelter WA said the retrofitting of all social housing in the state would cost $152 million over three years for the first 10,000 public housing properties, and $486.4 million for the remaining 32,000 public and community housing dwellings by the start of the new decade.
Prioritisation would be made for remote communities and areas with extremely hot climate conditions for the package, which would see a rollout of ceiling fans, flyscreens, curtains, insulation, draught sealing, reverse cycle air conditioners, efficient electric hot water systems and solar panels.
Shelter WA is also calling for individual or community battery systems to be installed in extreme climate zones, as well as an energy efficiency audit program of all social housing.
An energy efficiency retrofit of social housing could save tenants between about $780 and $1,500 per year on energy bills, according to previous analysis commissioned by ACOSS.
Shelter WA’s call comes after the Albanese government and Minns NSW government in January announced a $206 million package for energy-saving upgrades to over 30,000 social housing properties, which was quickly followed by the federal and Tasmanian governments striking a joint $16.6 million deal to upgrade the state’s social housing stock to be better insulated and more energy efficient.
Late last year, the federal and ACT governments announced $35.2 million in funding to upgrade 3,000 public houses, and the Victorian government’s $112 million energy efficiency in social housing was expanded with a $46 million contribution from the federal government.
That prompted a collection of social service, community and environmental groups in Queensland to urge the Albanese government to provide funding for social housing upgrades in the Sunshine State.
Shelter WA chief executive Kath Snell said the Western Australian package would benefit households most in need as a deep and permanent cost-of-living measure.
“From Kununurra to Karratha, Carnarvon to Kalgoorlie, and even in the urban heat islands of Perth’s metropolitan areas, many social housing tenants are sweltering through extreme heats with no air conditioners or ceiling fans, and struggling to afford to pay the power bills that they have racked up from using inefficient cooling systems.”
“Likewise, in many parts of the state, from Bunbury to Bremer Bay, social housing tenants struggle to keep their poorly insulated homes warm efficiently during our cold winters.”
“People are paying a huge portion of their income on energy bills and are in the most energy-inefficient homes.”
Snell said an extensive energy efficiency retrofit of Western Australia’s social housing is “one of the lowest cost, highest impact opportunities to reduce the cost of living, lift living standards for renters, and decarbonise our communities”.
“In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, the government would get a better return on investment and create a greater legacy if it delivers budget measures that reduce expensive energy bills permanently, more so than through one-off rebates.”
