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Public housing wait increases

The percentage of public housing applicants waiting more than five years on WA's waiting list before getting a house has blown out to almost 21 per cent, up from 6.2 per cent five years ago.

Applicants must remain eligible for housing to stay on the list, which for a single adult means an income of no more than $430 a week to meet the Department of Housing's criteria.

The Housing Authority's 2013-14 report says 20.89 per cent of successful applicants last financial year waited more than five years, compared with 18 per cent in the previous financial year.

About 18 per cent waited three to five years, 28 per cent waited one to three years, 21 per cent waited less than a year and 12 per cent waited less than a month. The average wait time for those housed in 2013-14 was 146 weeks.

Shadow housing minister Fran Logan said the figures were a disgrace and the department was preoccupied with acting as a developer rather than keeping up with demand for public housing from WA's most needy.

"By insisting that you can only work for less than 25 hours a week on the minimum wage, you are forcing families into poverty while they wait for homes," Mr Logan said.

Department of Housing general manger of service delivery Steve Parry said the department gave priority assistance to applicants who showed an urgent need.

The department allocated about 60 per cent of available properties to priority applicants and the number of priority applications fell from 3111 in August last year to 2860 at the same time this year.

The number of public tenants evicted under the Government's three-strikes in 12 months policy grew to 75 last financial year, from 63.

The department issued 1340 first, 507 second and 171 third strikes under the strategy, which is backed by both sides of politics but has been criticised for making Aboriginal people homeless.