| Council to Homeless Persons has criticised both major parties’ failure to include public and community homes in their major housing announcements, with under three weeks until the Victorian election. On Friday, the Coalition promised to sell $1.3 billion worth of state land to private developers, including the East Werribee Employment Precinct, the former Footscray Hospital, the Ballarat Saleyards site and the former Coburg North TAFE. The announcement was silent on including any social housing. “Selling off surplus public land for housing makes sense, but only if at least 20 per cent of the homes are public and community dwellings,” Council to Homeless Persons Acting CEO Lucas Testro said. “We know the private market is already failing to provide Victorians with enough housing, with the number of people working and still relying on homelessness support surging 42 per cent over four years. “For some Victorians, private housing will never be appropriate so land owned by the public and sold for housing must deliver a share for the people who need them most.” Labor’s major housing commitment, announced last month, is a $1 billion partnership with the Commonwealth to build around 25,000 homes on government-owned land between 2027 and 2034, which would then be sold at market rates exclusively to first home buyers. “It’s essential all Victorians benefit from this transformative investment. Publicly funded housing must include public housing. It’s as simple as that,” Mr Testro said. “Victoria ranks last in the country for the proportion of social housing. A government that builds houses must build public homes to get us off the bottom of the table.” The former Footscray Hospital site appears in both parties’ plans, and Maribyrnong City Council has already called for at least 30 per cent of homes on that site to be social and affordable housing. More than 40,000 households are on Victoria’s priority waitlist for social housing, each one accepted by the government as urgently needing appropriate housing. Over the past four years there has been a 42 per cent increase in working Victorians receiving homelessness support, and last year more than 4,400 Victorians were holding down full-time jobs while still unsure whether they would have somewhere safe to sleep the following week. “Victoria is mired in a housing and homelessness crisis that should be sparking major government intervention. The major parties need to ask themselves: are we going to let the crisis become a catastrophe before real action is taken?” Mr Testro said. “Public and community housing is insurance for every one of us. No one expects they’ll become homeless. If that happens to you or your child or your sibling, you’ll want to know we have a healthy social housing system to offer a safe home. “While there is a moral imperative for a wealthy society to provide housing for its most vulnerable, the economic case is undeniable. A future government serious about managing the budget responsibly would invest in a major increase in social housing.” Analysis by SGS Economics and Planning has found that adequate housing generates $2 in benefits for every $1 invested, and would save Victoria nearly $8 billion over 30 years in related costs, including costs to the health system. CHP is calling on both Labor and the Coalition to release a detailed public and community housing commitment, including a social housing target that matches the scale of need, before polling day on November 28. Contact: Eliot Barham 0423 921 200 or Matt Coughlan 0400 561 480 |