Supply of more housing options for people on social housing waiting lists should be given increased priority, as longer wait times and uncertain or unsafe housing creates further mental health challenges for applicants already facing increased health needs, according to new AHURI research.
The research, ‘The role of housing providers in supporting clients with complex needs’, was undertaken for AHURI by researchers from the University of New South Wales, Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Tasmania. It investigates the current challenges in providing social housing to people with complex support needs and considers potential alternative policy responses.
Mental health was identified at the centre of many clients’ health needs. Longer social housing wait times and uncertain or unsafe housing was seen as increasing mental health challenges for clients. An increasingly uncertain and expensive rental market was also recognised as exacerbating the issues.
At the simplest service response, connecting people to secure housing helped their mental health. Indeed, social housing providers may be the first and only point of contact that clients with unmet mental health needs have with the service system.
Developing the housing service providers’ workforce could improve the effectiveness of support provided to people with multiple support needs, together with providing individual casework support for with clients to helping people navigate support networks, including ensuring that clients are designated as priority clients on social housing registries.
The provision of secure, genuinely affordable housing for people with low and moderate incomes would reduce the pressure on social housing registries. Affordable housing rents need to be reviewed and set based on percentage of income formulae, rather than setting rents as a percentage of market rents.