Population growth and demand for affordable housing are leaving
hundreds of Wyndham residents without a roof over their heads, support
services say.
Until last Friday, Gareth Blacklaws was one of the 546 people living on the municipality’s streets.
For three weeks he lived by the Werribee River with his dog Daisy,
after he was asked to leave the boarding house he was living in because
the owners didn’t like that he had a pet.
He was unable to find crisis accommodation that would accept Daisy, so he began living in a tent.
Last week, Mr Blacklaws’ fortunes changed when a kind stranger
offered him a place to stay. “People’s generosity has been wonderful. I
am not someone who likes to ask for help,” he said.
“I wasn’t prepared to give up Daisy because she is more than a
companion. She keeps me calm and relaxed, I would hate to think where I
would be without her.”
Mr Blacklaws said it was disappointing there was nowhere in Wyndham that would accept homeless people with pets.
Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said
homelessness in the Lalor electorate increased 108 per cent between 2006
and 2011.
‘‘Increasingly we’re seeing homelessness in areas where people
might have gone for affordable housing in the past. But they’re not
finding it [affordable housing] where they used to because it no longer
exists,” she said.
Melbourne City Mission youth refuges manager Sam Barrett said rent
increases were making the problem worse, with fierce competition for
low-rent housing.
At the 2011 census, average rent prices were $280 a week, up from $185 a week in 2006.
A Department of Human Services spokeswoman said the state
government was working to prevent homelessness in Wyndham and had added
$200 million statewide to homelessness services since December 2010.
She said service providers could determine whether they accepted
people with pets, however organisations such as Lort Smith Animal
Hospital in North Melbourne offered emergency accommodation for animals.
