CALLS are coming for all levels of government to invest in affordable-housing projects to drive down Bendigo’s public-housing waiting list, which remains above 1000 applicants.
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Hundreds of applicants on the waiting list are considered emergency cases – many are victims of abuse – while others deal with financial stress and interruptions to employment and education while waiting in temporary accommodation.
Jenny Smith, Council to Homeless Persons CEO, said a number of measures could be taken to drive down Bendigo’s waiting list.
“There could be more direct spending on public housing and more resources to support the community housing sector to develop more housing in the Bendigo area,” she said.
Other ways the government could address the shortage could include use of inclusionary zoning – whereby developers are required to include a proportion of affordable housing in developments of more than 10 houses – and shared equity plans, where the government buys a portion of the house alongside the home buyer, Ms Smith said.
“At a national level there is a need to restructure the tax system to reduce the incentives for investors to engage in the kind of speculative investment in housing that squeezes out first home buyers.”
As of September, 1081 applicants were waiting for public housing in the Loddon or Bendigo region, an area that stretches far beyond the city’s boundaries to towns such as Gisborne and Donald.
Some 374 are seeking “early housing” – they are emergency cases – while 707 want general housing.
Housing Minister Martin Foley said the state government had invested $180 million in new housing, increased the Housing Assistance budget by 5.5 per cent and invested $40 million in homelessness action projects since coming to power.
He did not address questions related to Bendigo’s public housing waiting list.
“The Liberals neglected public housing for four years as $470 million was ripped out of the Victorian system, which has inevitably had an impact on the waiting list,” he said.
City of Greater Bendigo planning and development director Prue Mansfield said the council was focused on enabling cost-effective development and ensuring enough land was zoned to ensure development occurred at a pace consistent with population growth.
