Council to ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾less Persons (CHP) has called on the Victorian Government to ensure any changes to planning and building laws include a continued source of funding for social housing.
The Government has reportedly restarted talks with building industry bodies about reforms to help developers cut red tape.
CHP Chief Executive Officer Deborah Di Natale said measures like the government’s shelved $800 million Social and Affordable Housing Contribution should be on the table.
“Victoria’s housing crisis is pushing more and more people to the brink of homelessness,” she said.
“It would be a win-win situation if any measures to help developers were implemented alongside a continued source of funding to build social housing.
“We believe building reforms should be tied to an ongoing growth in social housing. Chronic under-investment in Victoria’s social housing needs an urgent boost after decades of neglect.
“The State Government’s Big Housing Build has been an incredibly welcome first step which will boost social dwelling stock by 10% when it is completed.
“But there’s still so much work to do given that more than 101,000 people sought help from homelessness services in 2021/22.
“Just 3,300 social housing properties were made available to people on the Victorian Housing Register who were not currently in social housing, according to the most recent year of data.
“It’s important the Government maintains its ambition that al Victorians have secure accommodation through adequate social housing stocks and one way to make this happen is for developers to pay their fair share
