Dozens of ACT Housing residential properties remain vacant around Canberra while their former tenants serve long-term prison sentences.
Meanwhile, ACT Housing confirmed this week there are 2370 people on the government's waiting list for public housing, a rise of nearly 30 per cent from 18 months ago.
With plywood sheets boarded over smashed windows, broken toys and piles of rubbish scattered through the long grass in the backyard, a four-bedroom brick home in Conder sits as a stark example of a wasted public asset.
It is one of 34 properties throughout Canberra that ACT Housing has confirmed as "untenanted while the tenant is in long term custody".
The Conder home had previously been tenanted by Angela Smith, who in March this year was sentenced to five years in prison for her role in the crash which resulted in the death of Jozef Stefaniak, the 24-year-old son of former ACT Liberal leader Bill Stefaniak.
The earliest she can be released is 2021.
Smith was the drug-affected driver of the BMW which crashed and rolled several times at Yarra Glen on January 2, 2017.
She and another occupant in the car, Kane Kell, fled the scene of the wrecked car, leaving Josef Stefaniak to die of serious head injuries on the roadside.
After Smith was arrested, she was refused bail and charged with culpable driving, as well as other charges around the crash, including drug driving and speeding, and failing to give assistance.
At a pre-trial hearing in May last year, Smith said she "wanted to get out to check on the Conder home", as she had since received several police reports about incidents there since she had been locked up.
Smith's former four-bedroom brick en-suite home now stands abandoned and neglected, as it has for more than 18 months.
One of the heavyweight plywood sheets used to board up the rear of the garage has been removed, suggesting illegal access has been gained to the property at some point.
Any future plans for the property, which would best suit a family, remain unclear.
ACT Community Services has a published public policy around untenanted properties which states: " ...a tenant will be deemed not to reside at the property if he or she is absent for a period of more than one month without the Commissioner's written permission".
However, its specific policy on "incarceration of tenants" states that providing there are no outstanding circumstances, imprisoned tenants "could expect approval for a dwelling to be left vacant for periods up to three months".
The policy further states that "extensions beyond six months will only be granted in highly exceptional circumstances".
Housing ACT indicated that it would prefer that the houses previously tenanted by long-term serving prisoners be surrendered voluntarily "so that they may be made available to other housing applicants in need".
"Where a property is not returned voluntarily, Housing ACT will seek the return of the property through the normal legal proceedings outlined in the Residential Tenancies Act."
Under the Act, any tenancy agreement terminates if the house is declared as "abandoned" or if the tenant had breached the terms of the tenancy agreement, such as failing to pay rent.
In 2018-19, 71 public housing tenancies ended with no reason given by the tenants, and 22 tenancies were declared as abandoned.
A $100 million investment has been flagged in public housing over the next five years which will grow the portfolio by 200 homes.
