00:00More than 600 flooded houses, acquired by the state government, now seemingly abandoned.
00:09But behind these fences, people are moving back in.
00:13Why wouldn't I live here?
00:14These houses are very nice, they're very safe, we're looking after them, and the government
00:18hasn't offered any solutions to the housing crisis.
00:22It seems ridiculous to me that in a town with over 600 empty houses now, that there is such
00:28a rental issue, you know, so many people pay so much.
00:31The government says under its housing buyback scheme, eligible people can apply to live
00:37in the houses, otherwise they are off limits.
00:40There's not some sort of free-for-all that you find an empty home, you rip off the plywood
00:44and you go in there and sleep out.
00:46If you're going to do that, go through the proper process, otherwise we're forced to
00:52remove you.
00:53The government's bought back these houses, so they are already public housing.
00:57The government owns them, taxpayers are paying for them, so they should provide shelter
01:02to those in need.
01:03The NSW Reconstruction Authority says it has 2,800 flood-free home sites in the planning
01:10pipeline across the Northern Rivers region.
01:13But so far, these fences are one of the few indications that anything is going on.
01:20Local councillor Ellie Bird has seen the city's housing woes up close in her role as head
01:25of recovery organisation Resilient Lismore.
01:29It's very difficult because you can't just build houses overnight.
01:33And that's what we need, right?
01:34We need more houses.
01:36The community insists it should not be locked out of the process.
01:41I think it's been a very large collective pain for a lot of the local community to go
01:45through the flood, then see the houses boarded up and then just sitting there, and then to
01:49know that people are also homeless and suffering.
01:52A community fighting for a place to call home.
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