9 years waiting
Three years ago, Brian was living in a boarding house in Summer Hill, paying $200 a week for a small room in a sub-par condition. He was fighting to get back his disability pension and living on around $40 a week after rent.
“I didn’t have much at all, my life was a short walk around Ashmore shops and back to my room… I was very depressed.”
Paula, a retired CWH resident, has lived in the City of Sydney since she was born and watched the city evolve to what it is today.
When Paula, a Nutritionist, and her husband, a Geriatric Nurse, were raising their five children in Kings Cross, the cost of housing and daily living expenses were substantially lower than what they are today. “It was a comfortable family life”, Paula reflects.
“There weren’t many job prospects for woman back then especially married ones. I was working at a local bar when a friend of one of the girls there asked me to come cook at her child care centre.”
Paula is one of many Australian’s who never bought property. “Raising five children and putting them through school, we never had the money to buy. That just wasn’t on the cards for us”, she states.
When high school English teacher Victor realised he and his wife could no longer afford to live where they worked, he had a moment where he considered going into private education.
“I could have gone into the private system where the pay is potentially higher, but I’ve made an ethical choice not to,” Victor says.
The CWH TV crew have been busy working on some exciting new projects over the past few months. The team have been focusing on community awareness and the positive impact being a CWH resident in affordable housing can create in our local area.
This year is the second year we’ve engaged CHIA NSW to conduct our annual Tenant Satisfaction Survey. We’re happy to see improvements in various areas including ability to influence decision making and tenant involvement which have increased by 11% and 9% respectively. You can see the full 2019 results and our commitments at https://www.citywesthousing.com.au/tenant-survey
Letters from the Landlord
Lisa had been living in Glebe for 11 years when she received a letter from her landlord that the apartment complex she was living in had been sold. Not knowing what this meant for her current housing, Lisa soon found out it she was going to incur a whopping $160 a week rent increase.
Lisa was in her 60’s by this stage and working 10-12 hour days as a shift worker. Lisa came to the realisation that the new rent was not sustainable and made the decision to move. “Ihad anxiety every time I got a letter what it would mean, whether the landlord was selling or putting up the rent as I had experienced both.” However, with work and life circumstances it was no easy feat to find a safe, affordable apartment in the city.
Lisa put her belongings in storage and was staying with a friend when she received an offer from CWH.
Sunday 16 June wasn’t just any ordinary Sunday. It was the day of the first-ever Sunday Best community lunch hosted by CWH in partnership with the City of Sydney.
The lunch began with a quick session of networking and reconnecting, neighbours meeting new neighbours and old friends. What an astonishing sight it was, to see so many people from different backgrounds and ages chatting, laughing and hugging in the one room. The buzz and excitement was infectious!
Last month, Hoyne released its second volume of The Place Economy, a project that sets out to prove the link between better placemaking and societal benefit, via a collection of case studies, interviews and feature stories. Considered global thought leaders in place branding and placemaking The Place Economy showcases the brilliant outcomes that arise when government, commerce and communities listen to each other and collaborate in the building of cities.
Hoyne reached out to City West Housing to feature our development The Platform Apartments in this latest volume, shining the spotlight on the potential for CHP’s to produce developments that reach high levels of design both aesthetically and contribute to vibrant communities. The Platform Apartments in Eveleigh were designed by Architectus who also interviewed for our feature.
Not sure how and what to recycle? Confused by what’s allowed in which bins? Many of us are in the same boat. There is so much confusing information out there and it’s hard to know exactly what goes where. If this is you, and you would like to know more about how to demystify recycling read on…
If you need to meet with your Housing Manager, please make a prior appointment before you drop in.
