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Lucyanna Apartments
Located on Ninth Avenue in Inglewood, the Lucyanna Apartments were built in 1970 and remained in the same family for over 50 years. The property went to auction with Edison Property in December 2021 and was sold on 10 March 2022 for an undisclosed price.
The complex consists of 24 apartments —18 one-bedroom units and six two-bedroom units, all with a single bathroom. Sitting on a 2,276sqm block, it was considered prime real estate due to its proximity to Beaufort Street, local shops, bus stops, Maylands train station, and Perth CBD.
At the time of the auction, 23 out of 24 units were still tenanted. However, by January 2023, only two units remained occupied.
Apartments in the 1970s
In the 1970s, apartment complexes became common in Australia’s inner suburbs, particularly within seven kilometres of major city centres. They were popular for their convenience, affordability compared to houses and long-term appeal for owner-occupiers.
These older apartments were generally more spacious, typically between 70–80sqm and built to last, often with solid double-brick construction. For comparison, 10 to 20 years ago, apartments in areas like Burswood and South Perth commonly offered 110sqm for two bedrooms and 150sqm for three bedrooms. Today, modern apartments are much smaller, with some two-bedroom units as small as 65sqm and three-bedroom options around 90sqm.
The upside to older complexes like Lucyanna is their renovation potential—they can be easily refreshed with a coat of paint, updates to the kitchen or improvements to built-in furniture, often adding instant value without major expense.
ShelterWA
ShelterWA is the leading voice for affordable housing and homelessness issues in Western Australia.
It was established in 1978, following similar groups that were formed in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia in 1975. While Shelter WA doesn’t provide housing directly, it plays a key role in connecting charities, government, researchers, industry, and people with lived experience of homelessness to drive better housing policy.
Aileen O’Rourke was a key figure in founding Shelter WA, which began as part of the Tenants’ Advice Service. From the start, the organisation focused on public advocacy and lobbying for fairer housing and has remained volunteer-led and community-driven ever since.
Social Housing Statistics in Western Australia
These April 2025 statistics have been retrieved from ShelterWA:
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As of 31 October 2024, there are 20,686 applications on the social housing Waitlist with 6,300 of these on the Priority Waitlist
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The average wait time is 148 weeks, an increase of 45% since 2021
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There is a total of 44,140 Total Housing Stock (all private & public owned) with 33,436 Public Housing Stock (housing owned by the gov), the latter seeing an increase of 16% since 2021.
January 2023
Anti-social Controversy
Local residents were shocked when the Lucyanna Apartments transitioned to 100% social housing, dramatically changing the atmosphere of what was once a quiet neighbourhood. Since then, reports of frequent disturbances—including shouting, arguments, and aggressive behaviour—have become a regular occurrence, leaving many long-time locals feeling unsafe in their own community. A number of serious assaults have recently taken place on complete strangers in unprovoked attacks.
Unfortunately, it only takes a small number of disruptive individuals to cause significant problems. Their actions not only damage the reputation of social housing but also negatively impact the lives of surrounding residents. Some tenants are legitimate housing recipients although many of the issues appear to stem from visitors or associates, such as ex-partners, friends, or others with no formal tenancy.
Residents have raised concerns over ongoing vandalism, drug use, assaults, domestic disturbances, property damage and even instances of public indecency during the daytime. In response to these issues, mobile CCTV cameras have been installed—not to film cheap fornicating trash (who are hopefully not reproducing!) but to improve community safety and support incident response.
Since the complex re-opened in mid-2024, police have reportedly been called out 306 times, highlighting the scale of the challenges faced by the community.
Beaufort Apartments
Adding to local concerns, a second social housing development is set to begin construction soon—a four-storey apartment complex planned for the corner of Beaufort and Wood Streets, where the old TAB is located, opposite Coles and the Inglewood Hotel. The proposal was recently approved by the WA Planning Commission’s Statutory Planning Committee, with Spinnaker Developments managing the project on behalf of the Department of Communities.
Housing Complaints
Of course, the standard response from the Department of Communities remains predictably unchanged:
“The Department of Communities takes complaints regarding tenancy matters seriously and undertakes investigations where appropriate… Where any tenancy breaches are corroborated, the department will take appropriate action.”
Yet many locals feel their concerns go unanswered, with repeated reports over months seemingly resulting in little action or meaningful support for their complaints.
Drawing from my personal experience working in the Residential Tenancy Court at the Perth Magistrates Court, the legal process to address disruptive tenants can be drawn-out. The Department of Communities need to meet a high standard of proof and the court process often prioritises tenant welfare, which can leave neighbours feeling ignored. In some cases, it can take months or even up to a year for action to be taken, particularly where proceedings could result in an eviction.
January 2023
