The Allan Labor Government is getting on with delivering more homes for Victorian families through Australia's largest ever urban renewal project - redeveloping all of Melbourne's 44 high-rise housing estates and delivering thousands more modern, secure and accessible social homes.
Acting Premier Tim Pallas and Minister for Housing Harriet Shing announced in Richmond that the next stage of the program will develop the towers at Malvern Road, South Yarra and Highett Street, Richmond, as well as walk ups at Anderson Court, Williams Court and Elizabeth Street in Richmond.
This project will occur in stages and we're working with residents and the community one step at a time, every step of the way and in a culturally sensitive and appropriate way.
Renters relocating from high-rise housing towers are being offered homes suitable to their needs, including in communities close to where they currently live, and we'll make sure every resident across the towers has the support they need.
The existing towers are reaching the end of their useful lives and are no longer meeting modern standards of living - particularly for families with kids, and Victorians living with a disability. It would cost at least $2.3 billion over 20 years just to keep them in a habitable condition - that doesn't include improving building compliance with modern standards.
If we were to simply upgrade these towers, residents would have to be relocated as works would be extensive and include significant disruption, and upgrades to meet minimum standards would result in fewer homes.
Works are already underway at three other locations, with demolition about to kick off at the vacant red brick towers at Elgin Street, Carlton - delivering 231 new, modern, energy efficient and accessible homes, with an 18 per cent increase in social housing at the site.
Every single one of these homes means a modern, energy-efficient and accessible place for Victorians in need to call home. This investment is delivering more than 13,300 new social homes for Victorians, with at least a quarter of these in rural and regional Victoria.
With more than 10,000 homes underway or complete across Victoria, our nation-leading $6.3 billion investment in housing has seen nearly 5,000 households moving into brand new homes.
Victoria continues to lead the nation in housing approvals and completions, with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data showing we had the highest number of building approvals in the country, and we're leading the nation when it comes to home completions over the past 12 months.
As stated by Acting Premier Tim Pallas
"Today, Victoria is number one in Australia for approving homes - and number one in Australia for building them."
"We're building more modern, secure social homes and boosting social housing by at least 10 per cent. We're not going to slow down, we're going to double down - and over the next few months, we're going to outline new key policy changes to build even more homes."
As stated by Minister for Housing Harriet Shing
"There's a lot to do, but the progress we're making across Victoria shows that the changes we're making through the Housing Statement and record funding are making a big difference."
"Last year we led the country in delivering close to 3,000 new social houses. We have around $8 billion invested in delivering new social and affordable housing around the state. We are focused on getting bright, modern and energy efficient homes that people are proud to call their own."
