The WA Department of Communities has acquired a former hotel in the Perth CBD which will be converted into accommodation for rough sleepers and run by a community housing operator.

The former Murray Hotel, in West Perth, was purchased for $5.15 million and will be leased to a community operator.

Tenders are open for a community housing organisation to provide supported accommodation services at the site, including case management and support, along with existing Housing First Service Providers.

The service will provide 30 rooms, primarily for singles and up to three couples, as part of a Housing First supported accommodation  model.

“As a Housing First supported accommodation service, this accommodation option will provide intensive wrap-around supports to help people who are sleeping rough access appropriate, longer-term housing,” housing minister John Carey said in a statement.

“We’re now calling on community housing organisations, through a Request for Tender, to provide supported accommodation services and I encourage those in the sector to apply through Tenders WA.”

Housing First program

WA’s $34.5 million Housing First initiative is part of the state government’s homelessness strategy 2020-30 which seeks to end chronic homelessness.

Housing First aims to transition homeless people into permanent housing backed by tailored supports.

The WA Government has previously awarded $16.2 million to the Noongar Mia Mia consortium, Ruah Community Services and Anglicare WA to provide accommodation and support in metropolitan Perth and Bunbury under the program.

In Perth, the 100-bed Boorloo Bidee Mia facility is operating at 92 per cent occupancy and supporting rough sleepers to transition into stable, long-term accommodation a year since its launch as part of the Housing First Initiative last year, the government says.

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