Region. NSW housing budget blown out

The NSW housing budget is blowing out as motels in Western Sydney increasingly become half-way houses for homeless families, according to ABC News. The NSW Government said its temporary accommodation budget had blown out by more than $9 million this year as it pays for an extra 643 people each month to stay in motels or caravan parks. The latest census data shows a 17 per cent increase in the number of homeless families between 2001 and 2006, but Western Sydney charities said the global financial crisis had already put those figures out of date. Mission Australia had recently built 16 townhouses in Sydney's west specifically designed to accommodate families.