About 170 families could find themselves homeless after the state government cut the budget for a program helping Wyndham families stay in private rental homes.
Yarra Community Housing’s (YCH) budget for its private rental brokerage program has been cut from $268,000 in 2013-14 to $158,000 this financial year.
The program provides families with money to pay for bonds or rental arrears, helping them keep a roof over their heads.
In 2013-14, the program helped about 240 families, but YCH fears the budget cut will mean it will only be able to help about 70 families this year. The program has been running in Wyndham for three years.
YCH chief executive Rob Leslie said the organisation had been told its funding had been redistributed to similar programs in the south-eastern suburbs.
“We well understand that the state government has finite resources and that it has to make hard decisions,” he said.
“But what we can’t understand is why you would take away resources from an area like Wy
ndham. All the indicators suggest the government should be increasing resources here.”
As reported by Star Weekly, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal figures reveal Wyndham had the highest number of eviction orders from rental properties last financial year, with 361 “warrants for possession” issued.
Mr Leslie said Wyndham was also experiencing increases in mortgage defaults and homelessness, and had a shortage of appropriate rooming houses and public housing.
He said there has been a “significant increase” in the number of people seeking help.
“We need more funding for the program, not less. For every family we can’t assist through the private brokerage scheme to move into a private rental, it means they are at risk of experiencing longer periods of homelessness and that is a really destructive experience,” Mr Leslie said.
The government did not respond before Star Weekly went to print.
