An old housing commission terrace is just one of several recent harbourside properties sold under the hammer as hundreds more are expected to follow.
Located in one of Sydney’s exclusive suburbs, the three-bedroom home in Millers Point is the tenth of 283 state-owned properties to go under the government’s plan to sell off heritage-listed public housing and relocate 600 tenants.
Built in the 1860s, the 47 Kent Street home was recently sold in a private sale for a cool $1.64 million – taking the total proceeds of 10 property sales to more than $23.5 million.
CEO of Government Property NSW Brett Newman said the NSW government was committed to divesting the remaining government-owned properties in the precinct over the next two years.
But Barney Gardner from the Rocks Public Housing Tenants Group told Daily Mail Australia that relocating Millers Point residents will affect the state's social housing waiting list.
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| The 47 Kent Street terrace is just one of several recent harbourside properties sold under the hammer |
‘Why aren’t they offering these homes to the people on the list first? I don’t understand what the rush is for when there are others who need a roof over their heads more.
‘I have lived here most of my life and if they want to evict me – they'll need to fix the waiting list first - then I’ll move.’
However, last September, the Minister for Family and Community Services Gabrielle Upton said the sale of the Millers Point properties will return hundreds of millions of dollars to the public housing system to help the 58,000 people currently on the housing waiting list.
'This is all about reinvesting money back into the public housing system by selling properties that are very costly to maintain,' Ms Upton said.
'The age and heritage nature of the Millers Point properties mean they often cost four times as much to maintain as the average social housing property.'
The government said that for every house sold in Millers Point, it can build three houses elsewhere.
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| Built in the 1860s, the sale of the latest Millers Point home was sold in a private sale for a cool $1.64 million |
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| The elegant Georgian-style sandstone terrace on Kent Street is one of several recent heritage listings offered for sale for the first time in more than a century |
The latest sale comes after the first heritage-listed home at 119 Kent Street went under the hammer last year for $1.9million. The second at 23 Lower Fort Street sold for $2.685million.
The elegant Georgian-style sandstone terrace on Kent Street is one of several recent heritage listings offered for sale for the first time in more than a century.
With prime views of harbour views overlooking East Balmain and easy access to the tourist hot-spot the Rocks and the CBD, the terraces are hotly sought after by developers.
But Mr Gardner, who has lived in the area for more than 65 years, said the heritage of Sydney’s first neighbourhood will be lost with the sales with critics claiming it is a 'social cleanse'.
‘The thing we’re really angry and upset about is the fact that some of these properties have been vacant for as many as seven years,’ he said.
‘There are properties on Kent Street that have been vacant for so the last three to five years – meanwhile we have all these people sleeping rough on the streets who are still waiting.’
‘The government is calling it “relocation” but I call it “eviction by dereliction”.'
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| The three-bedroom home in Millers Point is the tenth of 283 state-owned properties sold under the government’s plan to sell off heritage-listed public housing |
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| With prime views of harbour views and easy access to the tourist hot-spot the Rocks and the CBD |
Mr Gardner said the Millers Point residents have all been issued with an eviction notice but he hopes more people will ‘stand up and fight with us to the end’.
‘We’re delaying removal as best as we can. We’ve been here for a long time and all we’re asking is to leave us alone and let us live our lives,' Mr Gardner told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We’ve repeatedly asked the government to come down and talk to us - tell us why they’re doing this but they won’t consult us.
‘How can anyone treat vulnerable people like this? We just want people to know who we are and what this area means to us.
'I remember spending my childhood days in this area - going fishing in the harbour and doing races on the streets. It's a great neighbourhood and now we're slowly losing our homes.
'It's hard for some of the more elderly people here, they don't have the energy, but I'll fight this to the end, it's my home.'
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| 11 Fort Street in Millers Point sold for $3.95 million in September, setting new record for terraces in the suburb |
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| No Surrender: A mural at Lower Fort Street protesting the NSW government's moves to sell off social housing and evict 600 residents at Millers Point |
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| The old housing terraces in Millers Point occupy prime foreshore land and walking distance to The Rocks |
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