More than 400 homes are currently unoccupied in the Walgett LGA, or 20% of the housing stock, as the area struggles with the highest levels of homelessness in the state. 

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics, data, 416 dwellings in Walgett are unoccupied - more than double the NSW and Australian average of 10% of total dwellings.   

Currently, 79%, or approximately 1,660, are occupied in Walgett. 

If all these dwellings were available to reside in, this would more than accommodate the number of people currently without homes in the area, which sits at around 285. 

Last week data compiled by peak body Homelessness NSW revealed that Walgett has the highest rate of homelessness in the state. 

According to data compiled by peak body Homelessness NSW, showed there are 285.6 homeless people for every 10,000 residents in the Walgett council area, compared to the next highest figure - 170 per 10,000 in the City of Sydney - an area renowned for having some of the most expensive housing in the world.  

Walgett Council Mayor Jane Keir says that she thinks part of the problem is that many of these homes are in a state of disrepair. 

“I think waiting on funding & tradesmen to repair them is probably the biggest problem. For example, I have been waiting for three months for an electrician to come to my place,” she said. 

Cathy Callaghan, spokesperson for Shelter NSW, said that often it is the case in regional areas that there is often a market mismatch between the types of housing on offer and those that tenants actually require. 

Cathy Callaghan. Image: Shelter NSW. 

“So there are houses vacant, and yet we also have people without homes,” she said. 

“In some cases, these houses are publicly owned houses that have fallen into a state of disrepair because of a lack of funding. We are hoping new Commonwealth funding will make these houses available for tenants in the coming months”. 

Ms. Callaghan also explained that there can be another type of mismatch - the houses on offer are too expensive for those looking for a place to live. 

Local real estate agents told the Western Plains App that they agreed with Ms. Keir that these houses were often in a state of disrepair, and owners were reluctant to rent because tenants often cause further damage. 

“Some of those houses are in a state of disrepair, some of those houses are ready to let, but the owners do not want to let them out because in the past people living in them have wrecked them,” Judy Campbell from Walgett Real estate Clemson Hiscox & Co told the Western Plains App. 

“We also have people wanting to sell those houses but aren’t willing to spend the money to repair them.”