EXPERTS say the state government’s plan to build an estimated 34 new homes on the Mornington Peninsula over the next few years will fail to fix the affordable housing crisis.
The state government is spending more than $11.5 million in housing on the peninsula – with 21 new properties completed and a further 13 underway, and “more to come in the area” according to the Department of Housing, Families and Fairness,
But recent data shows that will not be enough, with the Reserve Bank of Australia predicting a shortage of more than 100,000 homes across the country within the next five years as rents continue to rise and the country receives an influx of migrants.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council says 3000 homes are needed “just to meet the current demand on the peninsula”, with 2934 people already in desperate need of a home.
Reserve Bank governor Rob Lowe has told the media the housing crisis will worsen as around 650,000 migrants enter Australia before the end of the next financial year, and international students and working holiday makers return.
A new report by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation also shows that construction of new houses will continue to lag behind demand in Victoria for the next two or three years. In addition, continued rental growth will continue to put pressure on households.
The DHFF says it is “on track” to deliver more than 12,000 new homes across the state by 2026-27 under its $5.3 billion for the Big Housing Build.
But local support services say the peninsula should receive a much larger share of the Big Build program due to the lack of affordable housing on the peninsula (“Peninsula ‘needs more crisis support’” The News 4/4/23).
Southern Peninsula Community Support CEO Jeremy Maxwell said rising rental prices and housing affordability were among the main contributors of homelessness and called on the state government to provide local crisis accommodation to support the more than 1000 people needing somewhere to sleep every night.
The DHFF last week released a statement saying it “understands” the challenges of finding affordable and stable housing and is “proud” of the reforms and investment the state government has provided.
Its statewide Homelessness to a Home and Homes for Families programs provided more than $230 million for “a pathway to safe and stable housing for over 2000 Victorians”.
A DHFF spokesperson said the causes of homelessness involved a range of issues, including availability of social and affordable housing, Australian government income support payments, wider economic and employment conditions, the continuing scourge of family violence, and access to appropriate support services.
Meanwhile, Safety Beach resident and former council candidate Joe Lenzo, has started a GoFundMe campaign to help people sleeping rough on the peninsula.
Lenzo, who stood for council in 2014, said there were no solutions to homelessness being offered, with “just more thinking, more talking, more subterfuge, and consultants”.
He said all money raised from his GoFundMe site will be used to buy tents, sleeping bags and sleeping mats for homeless support services on the peninsula.
“If everyone does a little bit the world will be a better place,” he said.
Details: gofund.me/ae46970e
First published in the Mornington News – 11 April 2023
