BALLARAT is in desperate need of more units of public housing according to Uniting Ballarat.<\/p>\n
Senior Manager of Housing and Homelessness, Wendy Ferguson said 160 units are immediately needed and tenants of 134 transitional homes are waiting for long-term housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need hundreds of units of housing,\u201d she said. \u201cNumbers are getting higher most of the time, but it\u2019s fluid. Some people might find other alternatives, but in general it\u2019s been growing constantly over the last 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of it\u2019s about income. People can\u2019t afford what might be available, but in Ballarat we have a very limited vacancy rating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough that\u2019s affordable and Newstart allowance is nowhere near enough for people to be able to find something affordable and then live on top of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really difficult time for people, not having the stability of housing, or knowing when you\u2019re not going to be able to stay there any longer. It impacts people\u2019s ability to get on with finding a job, for example.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t have anywhere to live, how do you find work?\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Shadow Minister for Housing, Tim Smith Victoria\u2019s public housing stock has barely increased since the late 90s.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s appalling,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you think about the massive population growth, we\u2019ve only increased our public housing stock by a couple of thousand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there was 69,000 units in 1997, it\u2019s now 72,000. It\u2019s totally unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Smith said the public housing waiting list is at 80,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got an emergency public housing waiting list at 20,000 and it continues to grow. As much as I\u2019d like to wave a magic wand and fix these problems from opposition, I can\u2019t,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Member for Ripon, Louise Staley said agents are experiencing a big rental demand for houses in the $300 to $350 bracket.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a crisis here and we need to understand it, be part of developing solutions, and we need to listen to the experts. Their voices are not being heard at government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In response, Member for Wendouree, Juliana Addison said the State government was committed to providing secure and affordable housing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve invested $209 million to build 1000 new public housing homes for 1800 people across the state, including in Ballarat and Geelong,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Uniting Ballarat has been in meetings with the State government about this project.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s three-year scheme, it\u2019s already been running over a year, so we should see that actual build within the next two years,\u201d Ms Ferguson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re only actually using their own land, and there\u2019s a lot of stock around that\u2019s not up to standard, so they\u2019re looking at properties where they have a large block of land with a house that\u2019s rundown, and they\u2019re perhaps building three or four units on those blocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s potential for growth in a lot of areas where the land\u2019s already owned, so it\u2019s quite a minimal cost to provide additional houses. We have a few people in transitional housing where that might be an option,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Ballarat\u2019s targeted for about 80, but one of the things we\u2019ve been told is that if we can find additional blocks of land where they would be able to build, they may build more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although there are plans, Uniting Ballarat doesn\u2019t see immediate problems being solved and asks for the help of philanthropists and broader community.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdditional dollars to support would be fantastic. People are waiting for support, not only for housing. One of our really big needs in Ballarat is crisis accommodation for families,\u201d Ms Ferguson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have hardly any. Families are having to stay in motels and find, sometimes, $700 a week to be able to stay in a motel longer-term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need affordable crisis response and somewhere for people to be, which is still not ok, but at least they have somewhere they can stay which is affordable until they can find something better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some families in caravans, and now the weather\u2019s better we\u2019ll have families… children living in tents.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BALLARAT is in desperate need of more units of public housing according to Uniting Ballarat. Senior Manager of Housing and Homelessness, Wendy Ferguson said 160 units are immediately needed and tenants of 134 transitional homes are waiting for long-term housing. \u201cWe need hundreds of units of housing,\u201d she said. \u201cNumbers are getting higher most of […]<\/p>\n