Apply for public housing
Public housing wait times
Wait times for public housing vary, depending on each applicant's circumstances.
They are affected by a number of factors such as:
- the general demand for public housing
- number of approved priority applications
- availability and turnover of suitable homes in each location.
Below are the estimated waiting times for urban public housing as of 31 December 2021.
| Estimated wait times for public housing (years) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | General wait times | Priority wait times | ||||||
| 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | ≥3 bedroom | 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | ≥3 bedroom | |||
| Darwin/Casuarina | 6-8 | 2-4 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 2-4 | ||
| Palmerston | 6-8 | 2-4 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 2-4 | 2-4 | ||
| Katherine | 6-8 | 4-6 | 6-8 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 2-4 | ||
| Nhulunbuy | 4-6 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 4-6 | ||
| Tennant Creek | 8-10 | 6-8 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 4-6 | 2-4 | ||
| Alice Springs | 6-8 | 6-8 | 6-8 | 6-8 | 6-8 | 6-8 | ||
Applications for public housing
If your application is successful, you will go on a wait list.
The wait list is produced in date order from when your application is received.
It includes general, priority and transfer applicants.
Below is the total number of current applications for urban public housing as of 31 December 2021.
| Applications for Public Housing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | General Applications | Priority Applications | |||||||||
| 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | ≥3 bedroom | Total | 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | ≥3 bedroom | Total | ||||
| Darwin region | 822 | 143 | 114 | 1,079 | 602 | 146 | 171 | 919 | |||
| Palmerston | 305 | 64 | 60 | 429 | 215 | 58 | 55 | 328 | |||
| Katherine | 214 | 61 | 62 | 337 | 81 | 34 | 42 | 157 | |||
| Nhulunbuy | 42 | 30 | 61 | 133 | 8 | 8 | 17 | 33 | |||
| Tennant Creek | 75 | 29 | 41 | 145 | 25 | 10 | 45 | 80 | |||
| Alice Springs | 462 | 218 | 219 | 899 | 180 | 119 | 158 | 457 | |||
| Total | 1,920 | 545 | 557 | 3,022 | 1,111 | 375 | 488 | 1,974 | |||
Public housing allocations
Allocations from the wait list are dependent on the availability of housing stock, which is generally linked to the number of households leaving public housing.
The number of urban public housing allocations from 1 January to 31 December 2021 is shown below.
| Allocations for public housing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | General allocations | Priority allocations | |||||||||
| 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | ≥3 bedroom | Total | 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | ≥3 bedroom | Total | ||||
| Darwin region | 9 | 6 | 26 | 41 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 37 | |||
| Palmerston | 12 | 9 | 6 | 27 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 33 | |||
| Katherine | 5 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 16 | |||
| Nhulunbuy | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Tennant Creek | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Alice Springs | 12 | 3 | 9 | 24 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 26 | |||
| Total | 39 | 28 | 51 | 118 | 38 | 28 | 50 | 116 | |||
Applications for public housing compared to vacant public housing homes
Below is the total number of applications (general, priority and transfer) for public housing compared to vacant public housing homes as of 31 December 2021.
Vacant homes includes dwellings undergoing vacancy assessments, maintenance, major upgrade and that are available to allocate.
| Region | 1 bedroom | 2 bedroom | ≥ 3 bedroom | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waitlist | Vacant homes | Waitlist | Vacant homes | Waitlist | Vacant homes | Waitlist | Vacant homes | |
| Darwin region | 1,574 | 9 | 415 | 55 | 392 | 20 | 2,381 | 84 |
| Palmerston | 592 | 8 | 163 | 8 | 170 | 16 | 925 | 32 |
| Katherine | 308 | 4 | 110 | 9 | 117 | 3 | 535 | 16 |
| Nhulunbuy | 50 | 1 | 38 | 84 | 1 | 172 | 2 | |
| Tennant Creek | 102 | 41 | 1 | 95 | 1 | 238 | 2 | |
| Alice Springs | 673 | 7 | 369 | 6 | 457 | 17 | 1,499 | 30 |
| Total | 3,299 | 29 | 1,136 | 79 | 1,315 | 58 | 5,750 | 166 |
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Last updated: 11 February 2022
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