More than four years after the floods, these villagers are being uprooted again

Exclusive: Villagers living in the temporary pods erected to house survivors of the 2022 flood disaster in NSW’s Northern Rivers region have been told their time is up.

While the chaos of the post-flood displacement has eased, the region’s recovery has been slow and residents moving out of the pods find themselves wading into a deep and complex housing crisis.

Having lost so much housing stock, rental vacancy across the Northern Rivers is the lowest in the state at 0.3 per cent and median rent on a three-bedroom home ranges between $650 per week in some parts of Lismore to upwards of $1200 per week around Byron Bay.

Alison Norris, who has three kids in her care aged 16, 14 and nine, moved into the Lismore pod village after she was evicted from the flood-affected home where she had been squatting.

She said she occupied the empty home in order to keep her kids in their local schools after her relationship broke down and the owner of her rental home in North Lismore took a buyback and needed the home empty.

She said she was repeatedly moved on by police.

“I remember saying to the police, ‘Where am I supposed to go?’” Norris told nine.com.au.

“I needed housing. I was not willing to live in a tent on the riverbank with my children.”

After living at the margins, she said being offered a pod on income-tested rent felt like “absolute heaven”.

“When you know that you’ve got a roof over your head for you and your children and it’s not going to be taken away from you, you’ve got options in life,” Norris said.

“I don’t think people realise, if you’ve never been through a natural disaster, how utterly devastating it is.

“It completely changes your view of the world, because your life could be gone in an instant... in an absolute instant you’re on the street.”

Norris is now on the priority waitlist for social housing as the eviction date of December 18 looms.

Homes NSW told nine.com.au no one will be moved out of the pods and into homelessness, and community housing providers have been working with the department to ensure all residents find suitable alternative housing.

But Norris said the uncertainty is causing anxiety.

“It’s getting pretty dire. I’m seeing a lot of people who are in very high stress, panic attacks, suicidal ideation,” she said.

“The fear is palpable.”

Slow recovery

More than 4000 homes were deemed unliveable after the catastrophic flood disaster in March 2022, plunging the region even deeper into the housing crisis.

As of this month, 857 homes have been bought back under the state and federal governments’ Resilient Homes program with 52 relocated and 278 demolished so far.

Of the hundreds that were approved, 76 have been raised and 73 have been rebuilt.

Of the 11 temporary housing pod villages set up as part of the emergency response, five in Wollongbar, Evans Heads, Pottsville, Kingscliff, and Brunswick Heads were decommissioned in 2025.

Residents in the remaining pods in Lismore, Ballina, Coraki, Mullumbimby and another in Brunswick Heads, were given formal notice from April that they would be forced to vacate in stages throughout the year before the pods were completely decommissioned in December.

Only residents in the Wardell pod will be allowed to remain beyond that date as their community in Cabbage Tree Island is being rebuilt.

Do you have a story? Contact reporter Rebecca Masters at rmasters@nine.com.au

A spokesperson for the NSW Reconstruction Authority, which owns the pods, said the demountables were only ever intended as temporary disaster housing and the Authority is considering options for their future use.

“The RA is exploring opportunities for the reuse of the pods from these villages, including through the Homes Reuse Program, to support ongoing housing needs, reduce waste and maximise the value of the public investment,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Residents and housing advocates would prefer to see them remain open until the region has more housing stock or there is a definitive plan for their reuse.

“I still can’t fathom that they’re throwing people out with nowhere to go, when there’s a perfectly good roof that they’re walking away from,” Kellie Holmes told nine.com.au.

Holmes and her multi-generational family moved into a motel when they reached their final deadline of September 4 without anywhere else to go.

She and her husband, as well as her daughter and three grandchildren, have lived in the pods in Wollongbar, Ballina and most recently Lismore after they lost everything when their home in a caravan park in Broadwater was inundated.

Holmes said she knew the pods were only temporary, but finding a way back into the increasingly unaffordable private rental market seemed impossible, even with both her husband and daughter working.

“I knew (the pods) were a stepping stone,” Holmes said.

“(But) everywhere we went we were just getting knocked back.”

They were granted $10,000 in financial assistance and used it to live in the motel and then short-stay accommodation for several weeks, before recently being granted a six-month lease on a house.

Holmes said she’s relieved to have a secure home but still overwhelmed.

“We’re just very lucky, they’ve given us an opportunity,” she said.

“I don’t have to wake up every morning now and go through my phone and look for a house, go for the viewing, put the application in, and then get another unsuccessful.

“It’s done a toll on all of us in one way or another, the constant worry of every day... Where are we going to go? What is available this time of year?”

Housing advocate Chels Hood Withey, the founder of House You, said the pods had become critical community housing that was lacking across the region.

“Everyone knew that the pods were temporary and they would then receive longer-term housing pathways after, but when it comes to crunch time and you’ve spent a good part of a year looking for that next home and still can’t find it, the stress is pretty palpable,” Hood Withey said.

“You would think that... they would maintain that tenure until something else became available, rather than just pushing everyone out in this staggered way.

“They know that when they leave, their pod will sit empty until December, if not beyond December as they are still finalising the reuse.

“It’s really hard for residents to grapple with the fact that, ‘I’m leaving this stable home, something that I can afford, something that I’ve become accustomed to living in’.

“That doesn’t seem to be an appropriate course of action when we know that there isn’t actually public housing for people to move into.”

Homes NSW said 287 new social homes had been built in the Northern Rivers since April 2023 and there is another 111 on track to be completed by June next year.

There are currently 224 households on the priority waitlist for social housing in the Lismore region and another 523 households on the general waitlist.

Hood Withey said official rough sleeper counts, currently around 420 for the region encompassing Byron, Ballina, Lismore and Tweed, down from 576 last year, don’t accurately capture those living in their cars or moving between sublets.

“Homelessness has absolutely increased,” she said.

“The numbers aren’t telling us that story.

“People who have been rough sleeping for a long time are getting creative.”

Norris said the homeless women she met while she was squatting were afraid to tell anyone they were living in their cars for fear their children would be removed from their care.

“The amount of homeless people, homeless women and children I met when I was on the street, awful,” Norris said.

“And they’ve got pods here sitting empty. 

“Why can’t they just leave the pods open? I just don’t understand.”

FULL STATEMENT FROM HOMES NSW

“The temporary Housing Villages in the Northern Rivers were established as an emergency housing response to the 2022 floods and were only ever intended as a temporary measure.  

“The villages are currently scheduled to operate until 31 December 2026, with planning underway for their transition from their current use as temporary disaster housing.  

“Homes NSW has been working with community housing providers to understand residents’ individual circumstances and support them to identify appropriate longer-term housing pathways.  

“A staggered approach to relocations has been undertaken to ensure every resident can receive the maximum amount of support in securing other housing options.  No one will be left homeless as a result of this process. 

“Community housing providers managing the pod villages are providing practical assistance to help people relocate. This includes assistance to identify alternative accommodation and financial assistance of up to $10,000.   

“To date, five of the eleven temporary villages have closed. 

“Since April 2023, Homes NSW has delivered 287 new homes in the Northern Rivers and is on track to deliver a further 111 new homes in the Northern Rivers by June 2027. 

“These measures have seen the number of people sleeping rough in the Northern Rivers decline by 28 per cent from 2025 to 2026.  

“Importantly, this trend was recorded across the entire Northern Rivers region, with every LGA recording a decrease in the total number of people sleeping rough over the past 12 months.”