Tasmania’s social housing waitlist has grown again to hit 5,277 applicants in August, new government figures show.
The Homes Tasmania dashboard reports a 10.1% jump in applicants over the past year.
With family members included, an estimated 18,000 Tasmanians are now waiting for secure housing.
“Tasmanians are struggling in the housing and cost of living crises,” Greens housing spokesperson Vica Bayley said.
“It didn’t use to be so bad, but for more than a decade the Liberals haven’t been building enough social and affordable homes.”
Building approvals data shows 2,347 new dwellings approved in the year to July 2025, down from previous years.
Labor’s shadow housing minister Meg Brown said the government was misleading Tasmanians about progress.
“Despite the growing wait list, the Liberals repeatedly talk about being on track to deliver 10,000 homes by 2032 – but regularly fail to mention they are counting vacant lots, shared equity purchases and existing rentals in their target,” she said.
The dashboard confirms 4,358 ‘homes’ have been delivered toward the 10,000 target. However, only 2,136 are actual new social housing dwellings.
The rest include 1,036 shared equity purchases of existing homes, 962 subsidised rental properties and 105 vacant land lots.
Priority applicants now wait an average of 80.8 weeks or about 18 months. The data shows 91.6% of allocations go to priority applicants.
Demand is sharpest for smaller dwellings, with 83% of applicants seeking one- or two-bedroom homes.
The dashboard also shows 5,642 homes in the pipeline, including 1,204 new social housing dwellings and 2,624 affordable homes through shared equity schemes.
