The Legislative Assembly has backed a community campaign to renovate 20 vacant public housing properties and have tenants moved in before Christmas.

Independent Kurrajong MLA Thomas Emerson secured support yesterday for his motion calling on the government to provide 20 suitable properties for the ‘20 Homes By Christmas’ initiative, led by Canberra local Jonny Warren.

The campaign has attracted offers of free labour and supplies from tradespeople and businesses to repair the homes and return them to use.

“Canberrans from all walks of life have put their hands up to help,” Mr Emerson says.

“We’ve had carpenters, electricians, plumbers, suppliers, housing experts, and even lawyers reach out to get involved.”

The government will be required to evaluate the initiative and report on its success by the end of May next year.

The motion also calls for a public housing occupancy target of 98 per cent and a new target for Housing ACT properties requiring maintenance or repairs to remain vacant for no more than an average 90 days.

Housing ACT recorded a 95 per cent occupancy rate in 2025-26, while 285 vacant properties awaiting maintenance or repairs had been empty for an average 284 days.

In the first half of this year, the public housing waiting list grew by more than 150 households to 3652, while the number of vacant public housing properties increased by more than 50 to 588.

Mr Emerson says his focus is now on ensuring the government and housing maintenance manager Programmed Facilities Management work with Mr Warren and his volunteers to identify the 20 properties in time for the campaign to complete them before Christmas.

Push to renovate 20 ACT homes by Christmas

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