Pod villages to close by end of the year – what’s the plan?

With temporary housing villages (pods) closing at the end of this year, community group House You has called on the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA) and NSW Homes for assurances that those living in them will not become homeless.

The pod villages were established across the region by the NSW government in the wake of the 20022 floods.

House You founder, Chels Hood Withey, said in a statement that despite contacting RA, MPs, community housing providers (CHP) and other NSW government agencies, there was no straight answers to two questions:

‘Why are 259 households being evicted from functional community housing, starting 29 July, when there is nowhere else for these families to go and no final decision has been made as to what happens to the pod villages after December 2026?

‘And, when the need for housing in our community is this severe and rental vacancy this low, why can’t the pod villages continue as the community housing they already are – in place, or relocated together with their residents – managed for continuity by the CHPs already doing this work?’

‘Resident transitions’

When the questions were put to RA, a spokesperson replied, ‘RA is moving into the next phase of its Temporary Housing Program and is working with Homes NSW and other partners to support resident transitions, while considering how villages and pods can be repurposed to best support ongoing housing needs’.

‘The Temporary Housing Program was established to provide temporary accommodation following the 2022 floods. The temporary housing villages will cease operating in their current form at the end of this year. 

‘Supporting residents to transition to appropriate long-term accommodation remains the priority and RA is working closely with Homes NSW and Community Housing Providers.

‘Community Housing Providers are working directly with each resident to understand their individual circumstances and connect them with available housing options and support services. Community housing providers are taking a staggered approach to ensure that every resident can receive the maximum amount of support in securing other housing options.

‘Decisions about the future use of each site are expected to be finalised before the end of 2026.

‘The closure of five temporary housing villages in 2025 were successfully managed as intended, with residents exiting the program with stable housing outcomes, with no instances of exits into homelessness.

‘Following the closure of the temporary housing villages, suitable temporary housing pods may be made available through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process, subject to assessment and relevant approvals.

‘Reusing temporary housing pods aims to reduce waste and maximise the value of public investment, while supporting ongoing housing outcomes for communities’, RA said.

Administrative funding gap

Ms Hood Withey has accused the NSW government of potentially making residents homeless ‘because of an administrative funding gap, and a lack of collaboration between the agencies responsible for keeping people housed until reuse is settled, or until actual housing options exist, i.e. more public and community housing delivered across the Northern Rivers’.

‘The Northern Rivers has already lost five of its eleven pod villages’, she said.

‘Of the six that remain, five – Coraki, Mullumbimby, Lismore, Tweed Street Brunswick Heads, and Ballina – are now being emptied too, housing at least 259 households between them. Only Wardell continues as intended: emergency accommodation until a genuine long-term housing pathway is realised, for flood-affected residents returning to the rebuilt Cabbage Tree Island. If a decision isn’t reached between those responsible for the pods on this thread, hundreds of people will be evicted into homelessness over the next three months, because Homes NSW cannot offer actual housing pathways, even to those on the social housing waitlist, and this region has nowhere to house them privately.

End of a funding cycle

‘The staged eviction dates – 29 July for those without social housing, 30 September or 3 November depending on priority, and full decommissioning by 18 December – are being driven entirely by the end of a funding cycle.

‘We’ve been told directly that the pods must be handed back to the NSW Reconstruction Authority by 18 December because the four-year NEMA funding period is ending, and whatever comes next – a new operator, relocation, reuse, or something else – needs separate funding that is still being finalised.

‘Some sites may well continue operating as community housing after that date, which makes this much worse, because the pod villages won’t disappear, they will sit empty for an indefinite period while the reuse arrangements are sorted out.

‘The pod villages exist for one essential reason: to house flood-affected residents, and people experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, until long-term housing pathways were made available.

‘Only Wardell is still fulfilling that promise, not because it has more funding or capacity, but because it has an actual plan, and residents have been given a real pathway home.

‘None of the other five villages are granted the same promised arrangement. Best case is Lismore, where social housing is planned on-site with no construction date confirmed.

Future unknown in Mullumbimby

‘Worst case is Mullumbimby, where we still don’t know if the site will stay or go. Whatever the outcome for any individual site, there is no valid reason residents need to vacate by 3 November.

‘Residents are told applying for social housing can secure an extension from 29 July to 30 September or 3 November.

‘But even if approved, there is no public or community housing available in the towns they live in. The Northern Rivers has the lowest rental vacancy rate in the state, at 0.3%.

‘Social housing approval doesn’t mean there’s anywhere to move to. It means your name is added to a list, while you’re still forced from the pod you call home, only to join the end of an already extremely long queue.

‘Most residents are already paying a percentage of their income. this is already functioning as community housing in every sense but name.

Brunswick Heads evictions

‘We have seen the eviction notices handed to Brunswick Heads residents. They were issued in April 2026, giving roughly three months’ notice for a 29 July deadline, for a program that has always known decommissioning was part of the plan. ‘These notices should have gone out 18 months ago, if there was any genuine care or commitment to finding long-term housing pathways for pod residents without a boot on their neck.

‘We still have not been able to reach an actual decision-maker at Homes NSW, the agency everyone involved in managing the pods has told us, repeatedly, holds overarching responsibility.

All roads lead to Homes NSW

‘Every call to Homes NSW has been transferred to the wrong office, or even organisation, left on hold for hours, and eventually met with the response that the CHPs manage the pods and we would need to contact them directly.

‘When we push back and point out this isn’t what we’ve been told, we are told the decision sits above the officer’s paygrade. Homes NSW staff have, to their credit, been kind and tried to help – but can only offer a callback from the relevant decision-maker.

‘Meanwhile Northern Rivers Housing, Uniting, and previously Baptist Care – the people who actually run these villages and know the residents – along with the Minister for Housing’s office, all say the same thing: Homes NSW makes the final call.

‘The CHPs can advocate, but they cannot decide who stays past 29 July. Homes NSW contracted these providers to manage the villages; if that’s the arrangement, Homes NSW needs to let them do the job, not hold every decision at arm’s length while being nearly impossible to reach.

Human cost of mismanagement

‘The human cost of this mismanagement is real and devastating. Residents have disclosed to us that they are suicidal under the stress of imminent homelessness. Elderly residents have been advised to re-home their pets and prepare to move into their cars.

‘Single parents are at breaking point, unable to provide stability for their children.

‘These are people who survived the 2022 floods, done everything asked of them, and still have nowhere to go- these are our single mothers, our children, our elders, our neighbours, pushed into homelessness over an arbitrary date based on funding that nobody can properly explain.

‘This cannot keep happening in silos; residents are paying the price, mentally and physically, for this institutional failure. Here is what we know about each site, shared plainly in the hope of genuine collaboration rather than decisions made in isolation. ‘In every case, residents should remain in place until reuse is confirmed, either continuing as community housing where they stand, or relocating together with residents to a new site:

• ‘Lismore: land owned by Southern Cross University, managed by Northern Rivers Housing. Social housing is planned here, but no construction date is confirmed. Residents should have the option to move into the new social housing on this site, or relocate with the village, whichever offers a faster housing pathway.
• ‘Tweed Street, Brunswick Heads: land owned by Byron Shire Council, managed by Uniting. The site itself may continue, possibly as Council-run key worker housing. If so, why evict people who need housing to make way for others who also need housing? Council could build key worker housing on a different council-owned site and let Uniting keep managing this village as community housing for the people already living there.
• ‘Coraki: land owned by NSW Health. Baptist Care no longer manages this site and no one can confirm who does, beyond Homes NSW being named as responsible. This site should remain as community housing for its current residents, with a named, accountable manager confirmed immediately.
• ‘Ballina: land owned by TAFE NSW, managed by Northern Rivers Housing. In discussions, outcome uncertain. This site should also remain as community housing for its current residents until that outcome is confirmed.
• ‘Mullumbimby: land owned by NSW Transport, managed by Northern Rivers Housing. In discussions, outcome uncertain, may close, relocate, or remain. If relocated, it should move within Mullumbimby, so the pod resident community can move with the village.
• ‘Wardell: stays open, because it has a plan, and is being allowed to keep it. The other five villages need to do the same.

‘What needs to happen:

1. ‘Do not evict residents until the reuse of each village is determined and every resident has a confirmed long-term housing pathway, apply Wardell’s standard for every village.
2. ‘Automatic priority social housing waitlist placement for every pod resident, with public reporting on how many are actually rehoused.
3. ‘Written confirmation of exactly who is accountable for this eviction and decommissioning decision, an end to Homes NSW and the CHPs passing responsibility back and forth, and a joint decision-making process bringing Homes NSW, the NSW Reconstruction Authority, the CHPs, and landowners to the same table, so decisions affecting hundreds of residents stop being made in isolation.
4. ‘A funded, public plan for the reuse of these sites, including whether the pods could simply be gifted to the Community Housing Providers already managing them, with a lease agreement secured with each landowner, rather than requiring those same providers to apply through the Reuse Program for something they’re already running successfully. If the current site is no longer available, the pods should be relocated with their residents, instead of residents being displaced with nothing to move into.

‘Residents have already lived through the floods, years of displacement, and repeated uncertainty.

‘They do not deserve to end up living in their cars because a funding period ran out before the next one was organised. This is a housing matter now, and the NSW Government and Homes NSW need to take responsibility for it. Forced eviction and homelessness for hundreds of families – while the pods themselves will likely sit empty until reuse actualised – is indefensible and entirely preventable.

‘We invite you all to meet with us to discuss a genuine path forward. We ask that you confirm no residents will be evicted while these decisions are finalised’, said Chels Hood Withey.