The rooftops of the Railway Street housing complex were damaged during the August wind storm, with plans for the Housing Department to finish repairs as soon as possible.

However, repair work dragged out over the next four months as maintenance contractors came from The Entrance and Batemans Bay to carry out repairs, according to residents' spokesman Frank Southeran.

When contractors were at the complex, Mr Southeran claimed, the workmen spent little time completing the repairs while charging the department for their lengthy travelling time.

Although workmen had now almost finished the repairs, Mr Southeran said residents were frustrated at the length of time the repairs had taken.

"It's just outrageous and ridiculous that it's taken so long to finish," he said.

"When contractors have been here, they haven't really done the job... and the attitude of the Housing department to this situation has been shocking."

Southern Highlands MP Peta Seaton expressed similar concerns, describing the situation as "bureaucracy gone completely mad".

"This is a sage of extreme and shocking waste, it's simply appalling and the (Housing Minister Carl Scully) should be called into account," she said.

Ms Seaton said 'multi-trade' contract arrangements for public housing maintenance meant just 18 companies now managed maintenance work for the Housing Department.

"This arrangement has increased costs, added months to the time to carry out essential maintenance work and clearly doesn't work," she said.

However, a Housing Department spokesperson said the department had carried out the necessary repairs at the Railway Street complex "in a timely manner" and said all repair requests were dealt with in the appropriate time.

The spokesperson said housing department service contractors sometimes need to use trades-people from outside the region for maintenance work, particularly at high demand times such as Christmas and following storms.

However the spokesperson said this didn't increase the cost of repairs to the Department, as the contractor charges a set rate regardless of where they source their employees.