Council’s decision to make five parcels of Shire-owned land available for social housing will see up to 30 new homes built for women and children experiencing homelessness.
With social housing in urgent need on the Peninsula, Council has partnered with two Housing Associations to undertake 30-year leases of five Shire-owned properties across Hastings and Mornington.
The Housing Associations – Women’s Property Initiatives (WPI) and Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) – will develop social housing, providing up to 30 new places for accommodation for women and children.
The 30-year leases demonstrate Council’s commitment to providing housing to people in need and delivers on the Shire’s Triple A Housing Plan, the housing crisis declaration by Council in 2021 and Council’s ongoing advocacy efforts to raise awareness of the housing and homelessness situation on the Peninsula.
In 2023–24, on any given night, up to 689 people experienced homelessness across the municipality, with many sleeping in cars and in tents on back beaches and foreshores.
Social research has shown that lack of appropriate affordable housing, particularly rentals, is the key driver behind the increase in homelessness. Those with high housing costs are particularly vulnerable to cost-of-living increases.
Of private renters on the Peninsula, 35 per cent are spending more than a third of their income on rent and are therefore experiencing rental stress.
In the past year alone, there has been a 33 per cent increase in the number of people seeking homeless crisis support. Of those, 16 per cent are employed.
This initiative circles back to an expression of interest process and community consultation undertaken in 2022, when Council identified several parcels of land that could be made available to housing organisations to deliver safe, accessible, affordable homes.
