No quick fixes to the rental and housing affordability crisis

THERE are little to no affordable options for vulnerable renters in Victoria, and the housing crisis is getting worse, spreading from capital cities to regional areas.

According to the Rental Affordability Index paying rent has become even more of a challenge for households on low to moderate incomes including pensioners, single parents and job seekers. 

A number of complex and multifaceted factors have led to the crisis, according to the recently released report on the parliamentary inquiry into the rental and housing affordability crisis in Victoria.

The inquiry found that Governments over time have failed to provide enough public and community housing, more people than ever are experiencing rental and mortgage stress, rent and mortgage costs increase higher than wages, the liveability of rental housing declines and standards are poorly enforced, vacancy rates are extremely low and more people rent for longer and cannot buy their own home.

Jessica Harrison from Housing Matters Bass Coast, an auspice of Wonthaggi Neighbourhood Centre believes that if the state government and the local councils don't act quickly, camps of homeless people will end up on the edges of towns and it might become the norm. 

“We've looked at the stats and we found that Bass Coast homelessness is actually increasing more than other regional areas in Victoria, so we're very concerned about that increase.

“We don't want that to happen because we think people deserve a roof over their heads.”

The inquiry found that reducing excessive demand and addressing supply issues is a way to work towards solving the crises and will need to stem from both market and government efforts.

The Government would need to commit to significantly expanding Victoria’s stock of social housing and set hard targets to build 60,000 new social housing dwellings over the next decade to meet the backlog of demand, according to inquiry findings. 

The Bass Coast Council were given a budget of $25 million in 2021 as part of the Victorian Governments Big Housing Build and a strategy was put in place, however, the speed at which public housing is being built is slow and housing numbers won’t relieve the crisis for years to come. 

“We haven't seen the number of dwellings increase. We really think that as everyone's talking about the housing crisis that would actually encourage people a bit, if they saw more houses being built,” explained Jessica. 

An increase in public housing is a major key to easing the crisis as it is automatically 25 per cent of the household income and it becomes a permanent home. 

“A lot of these new schemes are actually not mandated as a percentage of your income, and therefore they can change depending on the rental market, so the first thing we advocate for is the tripling of public housing,” said Jessica. 

The inquiry also recommended as a matter of urgency that the Victorian Government respond to and focus on the recommendations of the 2021 Inquiry into homelessness in Victoria.

These recommendations in relation to the affordability crisis endorse more support and funding for the Private Rental Assistance Program, relevant organisations and greater support for vulnerable people and groups at risk of homelessness. 

In a recent Think Tank on Homelessness, hosted by the Bass Coast Shire Council, the group heard the Salvation Army are finding it increasingly hard to stretch their budget to relocate people who they might have found accommodation for, as those costs are also increasing.

“We also think that in the short term that the agencies that are providing emergency accommodation need to be increasingly funded,” said Jessica.

The Surf Coast Council and Mount Alexander Shire Council are trialling lifting restrictions on tiny homes as a primary residence, and this is a strategy Housing Matters would like to see the Bass Coast Council also trial.

“We're not saying straight out, allow them to be built, but we're saying there are trials already in other areas so we'd like the council to look into that.” 

For one third of our population increasing unaffordability and decreasing standards of rental properties are now an acute and ongoing concern.

“It's a case for the Government and councils to be pulling out all the stops to try and bring some of these schemes in and make it easier for people to look after their friends, or neighbours who might be experiencing hardship,” said Jessica. 

The third and final but important recommendation the inquiry made to the Victorian Government was to investigate enshrining the right to housing in the Victorian Charter of Human Rights.