BENDIGO residents may be pushed into homelessness as rising rents move beyond affordable levels for even essential workers, housing services have warned.
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New data shows many essential workers in Bendigo would need to spend half of their full time weekly income to afford the median rent on a unit.
Advocates said a lack of housing supply was fueling the city's competitive rental market.
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Haven; Home, Safe deputy chief executive Trudi Ray said housing supply was a key difficulty for even Haven in Bendigo, despite government investment in homelessness services.
"We've had more money than we've ever had, but we don't have anywhere to spend it," she said.
"There's nothing to purchase, there's no accommodation supply, there's no houses to rent."
Ms Ray said the city's "incredibly competitive" rental market had long failed those who needed, a problem only exacerbated by migration from Melbourne during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said more people were coming to Haven in rental arrears, or having trouble staying in a tenancy because of competition.
Presentations at Haven in Bendigo rose by 30 per cent in the 12 months to March 2021.
Ms Ray said Bendigo's rental market was challenging enough for employed, educated and connected people, let alone those already vulnerable.
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Essential workers in Bendigo may need to pay as much as half their weekly income to afford the median rent on a unit in the 3550 postcode, according to new data from anti-homelessness campaign Everybody's Home.
Based on hourly wage under the awards, a hospitality worker would need to work 19.1 hours to pay the median rent of $404 on a unit in the 3550 postcode.
Aged care and childcare workers would need to work 18.7 hours to pay the same, a supermarket worker 18.5 and a disability support worker 18.1.
Everybody's Home spokesperson Kate Colvin warned the high rental prices meant more people were forced into homelessness, or vulnerable to it.
She said people escaping Melbourne appeared to have driven rising rental prices and low vacancy rates in regional Victoria.
Ms Colvin said in many cases these people had Melbourne jobs, which payed a higher wage, squeezing out many longer term Bendigo renters on lower incomes.
She said the data showed renting was tough for people, even if they were on a full time salary.
"People are living on the edge," Ms Colvin said.
"If they have a decrease in their income, if they get sick, or lose some shifts at work, then they're not going to be able to keep up."
Ms Colvin said finding an affordable rental in Bendigo had become impossible for people accessing government supports such as JobSeeker.
She warned rental prices meant more people were homeless, sleeping in their cars, couch surfing or camping in state parks.
Ms Colvin called on the federal government to commit to building social housing, saying it was a responsibility it shared with the state.
She called on the Victorian government to continue its commitment to building more social housing in regional areas.
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