Addressing the housing crisis

THE housing crisis is the most significant issue confronting Geelong and Australia.

As a child who was born and raised in a housing commission home in Corio, I was extremely heartened when Council took an important step to tackle this critical problem holding so many in our community back.

During our April Council meeting, we voted unanimously to approve granting a lease of up to 50 years for a block of land on Purnell Road, Corio, to be used for social or affordable housing.

Now vacant, this 2,200-square-metre Council-owned property was previously a maternal and child health centre, which has since been relocated.

In 2022, Council undertook community engagement on using this site, along with two others in Bell Post Hill and Belmont, for social housing.

Almost 80 per cent of respondents supported this use of the Purnell Road property, demonstrating a strong community desire for social housing projects in Geelong’s north.

As a Council we recognised we needed to be directly involved in addressing the housing crisis.

Our decision also received a round of applause from those gathered in the Council chambers that night, showing just how important this issue is for the wider Greater Geelong community.

The resolution builds on our work in 2018-19 to create the City of Greater Geelong Social Housing Plan 2020-41.

Currently Greater Geelong has 3,300 social housing dwellings.

But the plan estimates another 7,200 households in Greater Geelong urgently need social housing, with 6,300 of these paying more than 30 per cent of their income on rent – often more than half – and 900 who are homeless.

With so many people struggling to afford or secure a roof over their head, we need to do what we can to improve housing affordability and accessibility.

If we want people to contribute to our economy and community, they need somewhere to live – somewhere sleep, shower and change before going to work or a job interview.

Geelong’s population is rapidly expanding, and our Social Housing Plan estimates we will need 13,500 new social housing dwellings by 2041.

That’s an average of 675 new dwellings a year, requiring an estimated investment of $235 million per annum.

This level of investment is far beyond the capacity of any council, and we require funding from state and federal governments to address this problem.

Our decision to designate land on Purnell Road for social housing demonstrates our firm commitment, as a council, to this cause.

Now is the time to get on with it and ask registered housing providers to put their best foot forward through expressions of interest.

This is not only an important first step to address Geelong’s social housing shortfall – it presents a fantastic opportunity to showcase what Council can achieve in partnership with the housing sector.

It’s crucial we make the most of this opportunity to show how we can use our assets to increase social housing and address the most significant issue confronting our community.

Cr Anthony Aitken

Corio Ward, City of Greater Geelong