THE housing crisis continues to wreak havoc on almost 150,000 Victorians currently in housing need, with many concerned about the future of the state’s social housing stock and homelessness services as the Victorian budget approaches.
In its pre-budget submission, the Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA) is calling for the Allan government to up its investments into social housing, particularly as funds from the Big Housing Build dwindle.
“As rents remain high and vacancies remain tight, more and more Victorians are being priced out of the private rental market. Right now, more than 146,000 Victorian households are in desperate housing need, either in housing stress, in overcrowded conditions or homeless,” said Sarah Toohey, CEO at CHIA Vic.
“The housing crisis is dire but it would be even worse without the landmark Big Housing Build that’s delivering thousands of social homes and changing thousands of Victorians’ lives. Continuing to build social housing as the population grows has to be part of solving our housing crisis.”
CHIA is urging the government to establish a Social Housing Investment Fund that would see $6 billion and interest earnings deliver 20,000 social homes over the coming decade.
“By investing $6 billion today in a Social Housing Investment Fund and having interest accrue over a decade, the government would deliver almost double the number of homes than could be achieved through discrete Budget commitments of $600 million every year over the same period,” added Toohey.
“This housing crisis has been a long-time in the making so it will take long-term investments to turn it around. The Victorian Government has demonstrated that it can take bold action to lift social housing provision in our state – stopping here would threaten to undermine the positive progress it’s been making.”
CHIA Vic’s pre-budget submission is also pitching for improved opportunities for community housing organisations to purchase surplus government land, convert community housing-owned rooming houses into self-contained units, and continue to deliver flexible support to ‘From Homelessness to a Home’ clients.
In November last year, CHIA urged that the government needed to deliver an additional 60,000 social homes over the coming decade to tackle homelessness in the state.
With homelessness mounting at an alarming rate across the state, with a 24% overall increase recorded over the last five years and one in two areas experiencing growth of more than 20%.
According to CHIA, the Albanese federal government must double the Housing Australia Future Fund to at least $20 billion, after public and community housing has shrunk to just 4% of all housing.
At the same time, the Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) is calling for $101.3 million in 2024/25 and $423.8m over four years to expand Victoria’s Housing First programs to 3800 places.
This as Housing First initiatives like From Homelessness to a Home (H2H) being reduced from July 1, threatening a 75% cut to programs that provide homes and support for former rough sleepers.
“It’s clear from evidence on the ground that From Homelessness to a Home is having its funding quietly slashed despite its incredible success,” said Deborah Di Natale, CEO at CHP.
“For some people, these programs have ended years of rough sleeping and completely changed lives through combining housing with wraparound support. After being told last year that funding would be ongoing, it was disappointing to learn that the program was to be closed and replaced with a smaller one.”
H2H was wound down with plans to replace the 2000 place program with a 500-place alternative.
Last year more than 640,000 Australian households were not seeing their housing needs met and Victoria still holds the mantle of the lowest social housing stock across the nation.
“The Victorian government must reverse its decision to slash crucial homelessness programs that have a proven track record of outstanding results. Housing First works, but the Victorian government is walking away from thousands of rough sleepers without any explanation,” added Di Natale.
“Victoria can’t afford homelessness program cuts while there’s a once-in-a-lifetime housing crisis engulfing our state.”
The 2023/24 Victorian Budget included $134 million to deliver access to housing and homelessness support, but skyrocketing demand for these services has left the many still across the state still in need.
