New data released by social services housing advocates paints a grim picture of the scale of the state's housing crisis and the need to turbocharge the construction of new public and community housing ('social housing').
According to modelling commissioned by the Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance from SGS Economics & Planning, Victoria will need to build an extra 377,000 social housing dwellings by 2051 to meet projected total demand from low-income Victorians and those fleeing family violence.
Ahead of next week's State Budget, the Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance is calling on the Victorian Government to:
- Set a target to build 7,990 new social housing dwellings every year for the next 10 years, as part of a pathway to reach the additional 377,000 new social homes required by 2051.
- Establish a long-term strategy to drive growth, including direct government investment, grants and measures that require developers to contribute to social housing growth – for example, the introduction of mandatory inclusionary zoning.
Despite Victoria's landmark four-year Big Housing Build, decades of under-investment in social housing by previous governments have left the state with the lowest proportion of social housing in Australia.
Victoria currently has 86,000 social housing dwellings. This represents 3.1% of the state's total housing supply. Even after the Big Housing Build, it will be about 3.5% – nowhere near enough to meet demand. In 2021, the national average was 4.5%.
The Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance says the collapse in housing affordability in the private market, set against a backdrop of widening economic inequality, necessitates a much stronger commitment by the state to grow social housing.
Currently, the Victorian Government has housing targets for the private market, but no targets for social housing.
Without this, we are missing a crucial policy lever, market signal and investment driver.
Adding another 7,990 new social housing properties into the system every year for the decade will lift the level of social housing as a proportion of all housing in Victoria to 4.5 per cent.
Without that intervention, the SGS Economics & Planning modelling shows the proportion of social housing in Victoria will fall to around 2% by 2051.
The Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance's full report containing the SGS Economics & Planning data insights and analysis is available at www.vcoss.org.au/growingsocialhousing.
The Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance includes the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS), Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA Vic), Victorian Public Tenants Association (VPTA), Council to Homeless Persons (CHP), Safe & Equal, Aboriginal Housing Victoria, Tenants Victoria and Justice Connect.
Quotes attributable to VCOSS CEO Juanita Pope
"Housing is the foundation for a good life and social housing is essential social and economic infrastructure. Strong, sustained investment in growing public housing and community housing should be the number one infrastructure priority for this state. It's the key to solving our housing crisis and other big societal challenges."
Quotes attributable to CHIA Vic CEO Sarah Toohey
"To make sure every Victorian gets the dignity of a safe, affordable home, we need to rebuild our social housing system. We can do this with a clear plan and annual investment, to build the homes we need."
Quotes attributable to VPTA EO Katelyn Butterss
"Every Victorian deserves the dignity of having a place to call home and for some, public housing is the only option to achieve this basic human right long-term. However, our public housing system has not grown meaningfully in decades meaning many are left sitting on waiting lists. Social housing, and public housing especially, are key to delivering holistic and affordable housing for everyone. Without a strong social housing system, all other housing issues Australians experience will only get worse."
Quotes attributable to CHP CEO Deborah Di Natale
"Every night, tens of thousands of Victorians are forced to sleep in cars, on the streets and in other unsafe conditions. The scale of the dire housing shortage demands bold, sustained action. The Victorian Government must urgently commit to a social housing building blitz to prevent this crisis erupting into a human catastrophe."
Quotes attributable to Safe & Equal CEO Tania Farha
"In the midst of this national housing crisis, far too many people experiencing family violence are being forced to choose between staying in violent situations or facing homelessness. The Victorian Government must act urgently and decisively to guarantee safe, affordable, long-term housing for victim survivors escaping domestic violence – because safety and shelter are fundamental human rights, and one should never come at the expense of the other."
Quotes attributable to Aboriginal Housing Victoria CEO Darren Smith
"For the Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island community, the housing crisis is not new – it's a deepening of long-standing exclusion. Right now, thousands of First Peoples in Victoria are locked out of safe and secure housing, without targeted investment in building supply and community-led solutions, this crisis will only escalate."
Quotes attributable to Tenants Victoria CEO Jennifer Beveridge
"As private rents skyrocket, we need more public and community housing so that everyone can have a stable tenancy in a safe home. That's why we need to build 7,990 public and community homes a year."
Quotes attributable to Justice Connect CEO Chris Povey
"Adequate housing is a basic human right. Justice Connect sees firsthand how the acute shortage of housing is leaving more vulnerable Victorians and their families without a home or on the edge of homelessness. Building more social housing is essential to preventing and ending homelessness in Victoria."
About us:
The Victorian Housing Peaks Alliance includes the Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS), Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA Vic), Victorian Public Tenants Association (VPTA), Council to Homeless Persons (CHP), Safe & Equal, Aboriginal Housing Victoria, Tenants Victoria and Justice Connect.
