FEDERAL Housing Minister Julie Collins has taken another swipe at the Greens and the Coalitions for their opposition to the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund as the first residents moved into an over 55’s social and affordable housing development in Melbourne’s bayside.
Collins was on hand with Victorian Minister for Housing Colin Brooks to welcome the first tenants at the $76.7 million Brighton East redevelopment that will deliver 152 homes in a partnership between the state and federal governments and community housing organisation HousingFirst, with land donated by the Halcyon Senior Citizens Village Society.
The Victorian government has invested $48.9 million. Residents will be people over 55 on the Victorian Housing Register, including those living with a disability and women at risk of homelessness. HousingFirst has contributed $27.77 million, which includes a low-interest loan and grant funding from the Federal Government’s NHFIC.
While 36 new homes are now complete, another 116 will soon be built on the site.
“The Albanese Labor government is delivering housing for Australians who need it,” Collins said at the opening.
“We are getting on with the job of adding to supply. And that’s what our Housing Australia Future Fund would do more of if the Greens and the Liberals stopped blocking it in the Senate.
“Every day of delay is $1.3 million less than can be spent on housing for Australians in need.”
Labor’s flagship $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund remains in limbo, with the government failing to win over the support of the Greens to move the legislation through the Upper House before Parliament went on its winter break.
The off-budget Fund would deliver 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years. Labor’s last-ditch bids to get the Greens onside ahead of the recess break included pledging $2 billion that would go directly to states and territories within weeks to deliver new social and community housing, and a guarantee the Fund would provide a minimum of $500 million of funding to building housing over five years from 2024-25, rather than a maximum, and for a new power for both Treasurer and Finance Minister to increase that amount by regulation.
However, the Greens remain steadfast in their calls for a fund of at last $1 billion that would incentivise states and territories to introduce rent freezes.
If the Senate rejects or fails to pass the bill when Parliament returns in mid-October – with at least three months having passed since the first attempt – then the path would be paved for a double-dissolution election in which all Senators’ positions would be up for grabs.
Social housing supply much-needed in Victoria
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing data showed there were 86,887 social housing dwellings across Victoria in 2022 – a net increase of just 74 dwellings over four years. During that period, the social housing waitlist ballooned by about 45%, from around to 64,168.
The Brighton East project is one of three social housing initiatives the state and federal government partnership is delivering alongside HousingFirst, with the other sites located in St Kilda and Balaclava.
“Through the collective effort of decision-makers, we can ensure renters can find housing security, in particular people on the Victorian Housing Register, women and children impacted by family violence and those at risk of homelessness,” Brooks said.
Under Premier Dan Andrews, the Victorian government has to date invested $321 million in Bayside under the Big Housing Build and other capital works programs to deliver 725 new homes, including a project in Brighton being delivered under a ground lease model.
