The Australian Institute of Architects has welcomed the Victorian government’s announcement that it will allocate $5.3 billion in its 2020/21 budget for the construction of new social and affordable housing, saying the funding will have “an enduring and transformative impact for generations.”
The Big Housing Build program is expected to deliver more than 12,000 new homes throughout metro and regional Victoria over the next four years, boosting the state’s social housing supply by 10 percent. It will include 9,300 new social housing homes – replacing 1,100 old public housing units – along with a further 2,900 new affordable and low-cost homes for low-to-moderate income earners. In total that will mean an additional 8,200 social housing units in the system.
Institute CEO Julia Cambage said the “monumental injection” was laudable “not only for its sheer scale but also for the depth and breadth of the housing diversity and inclusion it promotes.”
“The Andrews Government is putting sustainability front and centre with a commitment to seven-star energy efficiency standards, which is critically important to meet our goal of transforming the built environment to net zero emissions by 2030,” she said.
“This recognizes the need for urgent action on climate and the challenges we all face in trying to build a sustainable future.”
The bulk of the new homes will be built in Melbourne, while a quarter of the funding will be allocated to regional Victoria.
“We’re delivering the biggest investment in social housing Victoria has ever seen – we’re not just investing in bricks and mortar, but the lives of Victorians for decades to come,” said planning minister Richard Wynne.
Wynne told media the government had already identified nine sites where construction could begin in Melbourne, many of them adjacent to existing public housing sites.
As well as delivering new homes, the project is intended to boost the construction sector, and is projected to create 43,000 jobs.
“In making this unparalleled $5.3 billion investment the Andrews Government is both strengthening the Victorian economy and society by tackling, head on, the issue of homelessness,” said Cambage.
“It will deliver widespread economic stimulus while also helping rectify what has been a crippling shortage of affordable housing.”
Victoria has had the lowest proportion of public housing in Australia, with public housing making up just 1.9 per cent of Victoria’s total housing stock. The Victorian Public Tenants Association estimates there are around 100,000 people on the waiting list for social housing in the state. The Andrews government has been urged to utilize public assets for more social housing, with an RMIT study earlier this year noting the large swathes of public land being sold where social housing units could have been built.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
