Re: Integrate them in the suburbs (Herald Sun Opinion10/1/12)

Ms Savage’s opinion on social housing is based on emotive misinformation; which is unfortunate when the actual situation in Social Housing is completely different.

Low-Income earners do pay tax, so do the people who live in social housing. I myself am classed in the low-income bracket and I pay tax every year on my income so do my retired parents who live in social housing.

The analogy of crime been associated with social housing is like saying all rental properties are grow drugs to sell on the street! The majority of people living in social housing actually happens to be retired seniors who have paid tax and contributed to their community all their life and in their retirement don’t earn enough to live in rental properties so hence social housing is their only housing option available to them, the same goes to disabled members of the community who also heavily rely on social housing as they are unable to earn the massive incomes that “inner-city elites” get due to their disability.

You would also find by doing in-depth research that the “second and third generation on the dole milking the system” is a small minority and most actually live in rental properties.

Social Housing always get the bad knock with misinformation been represented as fact, having met and spoken to a lot of residents in social housing I can tell you that they are nice hard working members of the community and it does upset them greatly to constantly see the housing choice that they live in attacked by NIMBY’s, politicians and councillors who don’t understand the situation that they are in and social housing in general.

I do agree however that the rent-buy scheme should be reintroduced by the Ministry of Housing, but then you need to be able to ensure that the residents are able to afford the Council rates and taxes and that there is more social housing been made available to the those in need, there is after all a two year waiting list.

Anthony Osborne

Advocate for Social Housing