NSW police union calls for better housing to attract officers to regions

The association has taken pictures of the unmaintained and sometimes dangerous accommodation at Collie and Binnaway, which includes uneven floor surfaces and rotting and falling away decking in properties which would normally house two police officers and their families.

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The industry body for NSW police is calling for more funding from the NSW Government - whoever wins the election this Saturday, March 25.

Association president Kevin Morton told the Daily Liberal Property NSW took over the contract to maintain the houses around five years ago, but they "clearly" needed "more" funding than they were getting from the NSW government to keep the properties in a liveable condition.

He said it was "100 per cent" an issue for police retention in the bush, and "it can actually be a deal breaker".

"There are financial incentives to go out and work in these remote areas, and when you turn up and see what you may or may not be living in for the next three-to-five years, it can be a deterrent - that's what we don't want," Mr Morton said.

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"We've seen the government come out with financial incentives to retain and recruit people and the property side of it is letting people down. From our perspective, this is where Property NSW needs to have a good look at it and the government needs to inject and increase the funding through Property NSW."

The property at Binnaway is over 80 years old. Mr Morton said remedial work was done previously to contain the peeling lead paint which is peeling again. It also has uneven floor surfaces inside which are a hazard.

"The Binnaway property, is it financially feasible to continually repair this or is it a better option to knock down and rebuild?" he said.

The entire deck around the Collie property is rotting and falling apart. Mr Morton said both properties have "a brown water issue" which has led to mould and damp.

The Collie property is currently home to a police officer and his wife and stepson, and the Binnaway property is currently vacant because the officer is away on sick leave - which is unrelated to the condition of the house.

Mr Morton said young families often take posts in the bush for a tree change.

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"These police officers going to these locations shouldn't have to sacrifice having an unsafe and filthy dirty house that's run down," he said.

He said it was a huge problem for retention in the bush where more police officers are needed.

"We have a lot of police officers that want to go and police regional and remote areas ... and there are financial incentives to retain and recruit officers," Mr Morton said.

"And it would be a shame if these unmaintained properties, that put police officers' health at risk, were a deal breaker - if we have a really good incentive falling down off the back of that."