One Gippsland welcomes State Government's social housing investment
One Gippsland has welcomed a Victorian Government announcement that 175 social and affordable homes would be built across Gippsland as part of the $1 billion Regional Housing Fund.
Sixty-five homes will be built in East Gippsland and Wellington shires and 110 will be built across Latrobe City, Baw Baw, South Gippsland and Bass Coast shires.
One Gippsland spokesperson and CEO of Wellington Shire, David Morcom said the investment would help to address the need for homes for the region’s most vulnerable people.
“The housing crisis is real and it’s here in Gippsland. Unfortunately, it’s the most vulnerable members of our community who are suffering most: people escaping domestic violence and those without somewhere to call home,” Mr Morcom said.
“Gippsland has some of the highest rates of family violence and homelessness in Victoria and these are key contributors to the high demand for social housing across our six municipalities,” Mr Morcom said.
There were 3,945 social housing applicants from Gippsland on the Victorian Housing Register in March 2022, including 2,268 priority access applicants. However, the total number of social and public homes in Gippsland dropped by 0.4 percent from June 2019 to June 2022 to 4,775 dwellings.
“Right now, there are 540 new social housing homes under construction or completed in Gippsland. With another 175 promised, we are making some progress towards meeting the growing demand for social housing,” Mr Morcom said.
Mr Morcom also welcomed the State Government’s announcement of the Regional Planner Cadetship Program to help speed up planning processes and approvals for regional and rural councils.
"Shortages of skilled council planning officers are a key factor holding back development and impacting housing supply. Councils are keen to move projects forward faster, but need access to qualified professionals to make this happen," said Mr. Morcom.
"While we acknowledge the Victorian Government's recent initiatives to address the housing crisis, significant action is still needed to tackle ongoing workforce shortages in the Gippsland region. We will continue to advocate for swift solutions to these challenges," he added.
"We commend the Victorian Government’s commitment to addressing this critical issue and look forward to collaborating on further strategies to increase housing supply and meet the needs of our communities," Mr. Morcom concluded.
To read more about the State Government’s social housing announcement, click here.
2. Housing assistance : additional service delivery data. (nla.gov.au) for 30 June 2019
Housing assistance additional service delivery data 2019-20 UPDATED 12 JULY 2021.docx for 30 June 2020
Housing and Homelessness additional service delivery data 20-21.docx for 30 June 2021