LOCATION is everything in the real estate world.

But for a group of public tenants with the best views in Australia, it’s all about a sense of community in the place they call home.

That’s why they are embroiled in a fight with the NSW State Government, which has moved to evict them from their homes at Millers Point — where former public housing terraces can fetch as much as $2.5 million.

Resident Barney Gardner said authorities “are going to need more than the police and their dogs to get us out of here — they will need the army.”

Among the affected properties is the Sirrius public housing block, a 79-unit complex with stunning vistas of Sydney Harbour, now a “ghost town” in the sky with its few remaining residents guarded by security guards.

The sell-off plans, announced last year, take in 293 properties in Millers Point, Gloucester Street and The Rocks, and many residents have already moved on.

But a core group of battlers are not going to give up without a fight, vowing to risk prosecution by flouting a notice to vacate by March 2016.

“When you consider the facades of our homes and the number of people we will be able to get out here, we won’t be making it easy for them to get in,” Mr Gardner said.

Along with of his neighbours, he is prepared to face a possible jail term by ignoring the impending eviction deadline.

“There are quite a few of us that are going to stay and we have talked to (Housing Minister) Brad Hazzard and shown him the homes we want to be spared, but he said he can’t promise anything,” Mr Gardner said.

“Obviously we don’t expect the older residents to stay and fight. We are talking about a group of people who are prepared to go to jail if they have to.”

Myra Demetriou, 88, refuses to budge from her 10th-floor apartment in the Sirius building, where she has lived for 54 years.

“I was very angry when I first heard that Sirius was under threat and I did all the right things — I answered the letters straight away and I got notes from my doctors who said that I can’t move away from the area due to my health,” Ms Demetriou said.

“This is my home, my children went to school here, and I know everyone. This whole thing has been pretty badly handled by the government; it is going to take a lot more to beat me — this is my home and this is where I am going to stay.”

Cherie Johnson, 59 who has lived in Sirius for 35 years, is also digging her feet in.

“I can still remember when my mother and I first moved here and it felt like we had won the lottery,” Ms Johnson said.

“We had always lived together, we were mother and daughter but also like sisters ... She recently passed away but the only saving grace is that she didn’t have to go through this. I feel as though if I am forced to move to another place I will curl up into a little ball and die.”

She said the Government’s Millers Point sell-off amounted to “social cleansing”.

“It is with great arrogance that they have treated us, as if we are not worthy of living here anymore. We were worthy many moons ago … now they are realising they can make money by kicking us out. It is a heartless and soulless move.”

An unexpected softening in Mr Hazzard’s stance had given the tenants hope that some might be able to stay in their historic homes.

But a month after the minister said some positions could be reviewed, tenants are none the wiser as to who could be eligible or what criteria they may need to meet.

News Corp has learned since the contentious sell-off of state-owned housing at Millers Point began in July 2014, the NSW Government has generated $64 million in revenue from the sale of 29 properties. More than 280 residents have relocated voluntarily.

However, of the 412 remaining Millers Point properties approximately 100 are still occupied and many of these residents won’t give up their homes without a fight.

In August, Central Sydney reported the details of a letter sent to Sydney State Independent MP Alex Greenwich written by Mr Hazzard.

“I am actively considering the question of whether there should be exceptions, extensions or alternative measures for tenants in particular extenuating circumstances,” Mr Hazzard wrote.

A department spokesman was not forthcoming as to what these circumstances may be but said staff would continue to work towards a peaceful outcome.

Last year, then Community Services Minister Pru Goward told the ABC the properties are too expensive to maintain as public housing and would require a significant investment to bring them up to an acceptable standard.

“I cannot look other public housing tenants in the eye when we preside over such an unfair distribution of subsidies,” she said.

“Every dollar that is raised from the sale will be reinvested in social housing support.”

Ms Goward said some rents were subsidised by up to $40,000 a year.

“This is a two-year process that will begin with a meeting with each household to discuss their housing needs and where they might like to go,” Ms Goward said.

“They might like to move closer to family and friends on the Central Coast.”