Rental stress across Mount Alexander Shire is hitting an all-time high and owners of vacant dwellings are being asked to consider renting their properties out as affordable rentals.
The call comes from local housing advocacy group My Home Network (MHN) as it continues its work of bringing the community together to create housing solutions for local people.
MHN Vacant Dwellings Working Group spokesperson Lee Nicholls said the housing situation had reached crisis point and more locals were feeling the pressure.
“Nearly 90 per cent of local tenants cannot afford their rent and rental stress is at just over 50 per cent due to a combination of rental affordability and rental supply,” Lee said.
“We have a shortfall of more than 100 diverse, affordable rental homes and we need at least 687 social housing units.
“Increasingly we are hearing how renters, including elders in our community, are being forced to leave their homes – away from family, supports and community – to find affordable rentals elsewhere. More people are living in campgrounds or their cars simply because there are not enough affordable rental properties to meet demand.
“Employers say they cannot find workers partly due to the affordable housing shortage,” Lee said.
“We understand that there can be a range of reasons why some property owners choose to keep their houses unoccupied, but this potential under-utilisation does present a very viable housing opportunity.
“According to ABS data, there are more than 1300 vacant dwellings in our shire so releasing some of these dwellings as affordable rentals could relieve some of the rental stress experienced by an increasing number of our community members.
“Mount Alexander Shire has 175 Airbnbs, so there are still a lot of non-Airbnb vacant dwellings that we would love to see released as affordable rentals,” the advocate said.
The initiative to approach owners of vacant properties is one of a range of strategies outlined in MHN’s 10-year social and affordable housing strategy. The strategy sets out objectives, priorities, and targets towards creating affordable housing delivery and reform.
MHN believes everyone has the right to access to affordable, secure, safe, sustainable, and appropriate housing.
Lee encourages owners of vacant dwellings who want to find out more to contact MHN’s Kaz Neilson at kaziwnt@gmail.com
