One of the promised factory-built houses is on Bulolo Street in Ashmont. It appears not to be tenanted or complete as yet. Photo: Supplied.
The 12 social homes promised for Ashmont have all been built and delivered.
Six of the 12 new social homes have now been completed.
None of the 12 have been completed and tenanted as yet.
Those are the three different messages NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson and her department, Homes NSW, have conveyed to three different audiences this week.
Ms Jackson visited Wagga in May to announce that 12 factory-built social homes would be quickly constructed and delivered to Ashmont by the end of June to help ease the city’s homelessness crisis – providing accommodation to rough sleepers living in makeshift campsites at Wilks Park and along the Murrumbidgee River.
Housing advocate Leigh Swansborough said at the time it felt like an Oprah Winfrey Christmas special – causing excitement for homeless people who thought they’d be getting houses.
However, none of the homes had arrived by July.
Region asked the department for an explanation, with Homes NSW blaming “wet weather” for the delays and saying the homes were coming soon.
Albury-based Greens MP Amanda Cohn then asked Minister Jackson for an update on the homes during a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday (19 August).
“I think they are available; I think they are all online,” Minister Jackson said.
“I think a number of them do have tenants in them; there were some slight weather delays from June to July is my understanding.
“I am advised they are complete and people have started to move into them.”
Minister Rose Jackson was questioned on the Ashmont social homes at a parliamentary hearing this week. Photo: Supplied.
However, housing advocates Chris Roche, Leigh Swansborough and Tim Verhoef told Region they met with Homes NSW bureaucrats on Thursday and were told none of the houses had yet been completed.
Region went back to Homes NSW for clarification.
“Six of the 12 new social homes in Wagga have now been completed with most tenants already settled into their homes and the final household expected to move in shortly following accessibility modifications,” a Homes NSW spokesperson said.
“The remaining six homes are due for completion this month.”
So, depending on who is answering the question, the 12 homes are all delivered, six are complete, or none have been tenanted.
Mr Roche said the mixed messaging was just “nonsense”.
“Either the minister isn’t talking to her own department, or Homes NSW is not telling her the truth,” he said.
“Or perhaps they just are telling different stories depending on who they talk to?”
It is a particularly awkward muddle given the homes were announced as a rapid response to Wagga’s housing crisis, with the government promising they would be delivered by the end of June.
Instead, almost two months after that deadline, there are apparently six completed homes, six still being built – and a minister who told a parliamentary hearing that she believed all 12 were available.
Mr Roche said the saga reminded him of the TV comedy show Utopia.
It also represents another Wagga bungle for Homes NSW, which previously chose an insolvent builder to construct public housing on Spring Street. The building was delayed by a year and several local tradies have still not been paid for their work after the company went into liquidation.
A factory-built home on Mead Street is not yet complete.
Meanwhile, Wagga Council continues to try to move rough sleepers on from Wilks Park and along the Murrumbidgee River, issuing threats of fines and using heavy machinery to remove items from campsites not currently occupied.
“Campsites are only cleaned up by council when they are confirmed as abandoned, which is determined after seven days of vacancy, or when they are signed over directly to council by their former occupants,” a Wagga Council spokesperson said.
“Anyone that was living at the sites have taken up offers of accommodation and support from Homes NSW and Vinnies or have secured accommodation via their own means.
“The remaining people living in homelessness encampments at Wilks Park have been issued with several Compliance Action Request letters asking them to vacate. The latest letter gives them until Tuesday 25 August 2026 to vacate.
“Council has been reiterating that it will not enforce compliance on those who are actively engaging with Homes NSW and service providers to seek alternative accommodation arrangements. However, those who continue to refuse to engage with support services and are in breach of the conditions of stay at Wilks Park, will be subject to enforcement action after the end of the current compliance period.”
