Tara Murray
The number of Melton and Brimbank residents needing public housing continues to grow according to The Victorian Public Tenants Association.
According to housing wait list data, close to 30,000 Victorians are on top priority lists for urgent public housing placements as of the end of March.
Brimbank and Melton, which are both managed out of an office in Sunshine, are seeing some of the highest waitlists across the state and sitting in the top five longest wait times.
As of the end of March there were currently 4510 applications in the area for public housing.
VPTA chief executive Katelyn Butterss says some vulnerable Victorians in terrible situations are being forced to wait close to nine months for a property – however, there is no long term solution to a problem that is only going to get bigger.
She said there was a number of reasons for increase in people seeking public housing and it was worse in some areas like Brimbank and Melton.
“It’s difficult to get into the housing ownership market,” she said. “People are relying on the private rental market and landlords are putting up the rent.
“People are paying more that they can’t afford and it’s forcing them to seek public housing.”
Ms Butterss said the cost of living wasn’t helping and many people were finding themselves in tough situations.
She said many people were couch surfing, sleeping in hotels or in their cars, while some had nowhere to go at all.
Ms Butterss said they had expected the number of people in Brimbank and Melton had increased, while across the state there was a significant amount of people seeking critical public housing and that was also growing.
The VPTA is calling on the state government to commit to a long-term public housing plan as waitlists continue to rise at rapid rates.
“We need 60,000 new social housing places in the next 10 years,” Ms Butterss.
“We need a good portion of that to be public housing. We need both sorts of social housing, but we need growth in public housing, otherwise the most vulnerable will be left behind.”
