Outer suburban areas such as Wyndham are no longer a haven for low income earners and struggling families seeking somewhere affordable to live.
A Council to Homeless Persons analysis of the latest department of health and human services rent data shows there were only 11 two-bedroom rentals affordable to a Newstart recipient in Wyndham during the December 2017 quarter – and no one-bedroom offerings. This is compared to 55 two-bedroom and no single-bedroom properties in 2007.
Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said Wyndham was among a number of outer suburban areas – including Geelong, Frankston, and Brimbank – that experienced the greatest decline in the number of affordable two-bedroom rentals.
“People move further out to chase cheaper rent, but just face fiercer competition from low income earners and young people saving for deposits to buy, from a shrinking pool of low-cost rentals,” she said. “It is a perfect storm culminating in increased homelessness, and the only solution is to build more social housing.”
In December 2016, the state government allocated $15 million to the H3 Wyndham Alliance – made up of nine support agencies and Wyndham council – to address homelessness and rough sleeping in the Wyndham area.
Not-for-profit agency Unison, which is part of the alliance, used some of the funding to buy 12 one and two-bedroom properties to be used by those sleeping rough in Wyndham. All 12 properties are already occupied.
Unison chief executive Jack Panton said demand for affordable one or two-bedroom properties in Wyndham was increasing.
“In 2017 we saw on average about 400 new and returning clients a month in our Werribee office. For the month of May, we’re going to reach almost 570 clients,” Mr Panton said.
“We see a lot of families in housing crisis and our private rental assistance program currently has over 30 households on a waiting list.”
