VISITORS BANNED FROM HIGH RISE ESTATES

Guest Post - Jeremy Dixon

This sign was up at the security door of the high rise flats behind Jewel Station in Brunswick. It forbids non tenants from visiting tenants. I don't know how literally this is enforced by security but it is deeply wrong in any case. Physical distancing may be needed in the present crisis but everyone else gets to decide which friends are within their "bubble". No reason for public tenants to be treated differently. I hear they are up in Atherton Gardens aka "the Fitzroy flats", and presumably the other high rises as well. I live in the North Carlton walk-ups and there is no sign like this around my flats, nice to know that in the walk-ups we are thought worthy to be a little further from house arrest than those suspicious high rise characters. Something about vertical living apparently makes the bureaucratic mind takes your rights less seriously, at least if you are a public tenant.

Opinions differ as to which physical distancing measures are reasonable and which are not. That is not the point here. The point is that this measure is not imposed on private renters, let alone private owners. Public tenants are not second class citizens and not second class residents either.

PUBLIC HOUSING DOES IT BETTER

Did you know that Public Housing is excelling at protecting tenants during the Covid 19 crisis. All public tenants laid off work due to Corona Virus, have had their rents automatically reduced to 25% of their income. 

No other Housing Model has these protections embedded, as a right, within their structure. This is why the government has had to act to temporarily prohibit evictions during the crisis, to stave off a further catastrophic spike in housing insecurity and homelessness.

Only a ridiculous and miserable 2.7 percent of all housing in Victoria is Public Housing.

And even that pathetic amount is in danger of being swallowed up. Privatisation by stealth under the guise of 'Social Housing'.

We need a lot more well-managed Public Housing to meet the current needs 

and to reach a broader demographic.

So keep watching this space, and following our blog. 

Help us to defend and extend this essential public asset!

 
Liz Aird.
Good on you Liz! 👏Another great submission to the Upper House Inquiry into Homelessness. If I can make a comment re 'community groups' we are talking of major corporations here. ( Community Housing Associations aka Social Housing).

Submission by Liz Aird. Submission 243

"Public housing is essential to prevent homelessness. It caters for a basic need and gives dignity.The state government needs to once again take responsibility for public housing rather than pass on the responsibility to community groups.

It was a basic component of infrastructure provided by the ALP, this seems to now be
unpalatable. Is it the modern face of neo-liberalism?

Labor needs to take back the mantle of caring for those who need this infrastructure.

The redevelopment of public housing estates has basic flaws. Firstly, they are creating ghettos. Secondly, it is disproportionately pandering to the developers. Why is the increase in public dwellings so small? In Carlton the increase was about 50 for public flats compared with 800 for the private sector. This is manifestly wrong. The government needs to commit substantial funds to meet the ever growing waiting list needs. This problem is now gaining the attention of the community and it is time an ALP government stepped up to the plate after twenty years of inadequate funding for this vital area which can prevent homelessness.

Inquiries in domestic violence and mental health only serve to underline the need for public housing.

No mealy mouthed statements about how the state doesn't do it well, actually address the issue. Oswald Barnett knew how to do it and we can now resurrect his legacy."

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John  Sharpe - Submission 15   👍

"I have worked with a high exposure to the general community through Christian Ministry
and Student welfare in education for approx 40 years.

The key issue I see now is the simple lack of adequate public housing .

Short term emergency housing is rare enough but it does not solve the chronic lack of 
housing stock."

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Igor Rogov.  Submission 22 👍

"I've lived in USSR where after collapse of the system, the whole homelessness appeared.
It is weird and spooky to see Australia sliding backwards into the same problem."

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Here's a submission which painfully describes the misery of living in insecure private rental accommodation.

Jude Power.  Submission 39  ✊

"The epidemic of AirB&B's in many areas is swallowing up former low rental homes. 

I am a 72 year old disability pensioner in private rental, which I can just afford with erratic 

casual work, which of course is not possible for many people in my situation.  

I've lived here for nearly 10 years but still dread every lease renewal date and am certain 

my lease will not be renewed next year, as I am taking the owner to VCAT because of 

longstanding necessary repairs,some from a kitchen fire over a year ago and others 

which threaten my physical safety.  

The agents consistently recommend to him that he not give me more than one year at a time, 

presumably because they want their annual lease renewal fee.  

If my lease is not renewed I face homelessness:there are very few affordable rentals 

in my area and I doubt if I would be given priority by agents/owners, in spite of my perfect  

rental record in the area going back more than 15 years.   

I have applied for public housing on a priority basis but doubt very much if that will be 

approved in time.   THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD STOP SELLING OFF PUBLIC HOUSING AND INCREASE IT SUBSTANTIALLY. "

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Sources
1.Report into PHRP Upper House Inquiry 2018. p25
re percentage of Public Housing in Victoria.
2. https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lsic-lc/inquiries/article/4283

THE PROBLEM OF HOMELESSNESS CAN BE FIXED

Another Submission to the Upper House Inquiry into Homelessness
by long term Public Housing and Homelessness activist, Beryl Jarrett.
Big thumbs up for all your hard work and dedication Beryl. 💗👍 Great submission.

To all concerned,
It is clear from Public Housing and homelessness groups and individuals and from the available evidence that homelessness could be avoided if enough Public Housing were to be made available.

Public Housing means housing owned and managed by Government.

Public Housing does satisfy the needs of homeless and those vulnerable to homelessness because rents are fixed at 25% of tenants` income, they have security of tenure, and all those on low incomes are accepted.

State Governments have instead for the past 30 years been handing over the management and/or ownership of their housing to private Housing Associations, also known as Community Housing.
As well, State and Federal Governments have provided those Associations and private investors with other subsidy and financial support to provide what they mistakenly call “affordable housing”, which in any case is well beyond the financial means of the homeless and those vulnerable to homelessness.

The Housing Associations charge well above 25% of the tenants` income, do not give security of tenure, and cherrypick those they want, leading to many higher income tenants being given priority over those on lower incomes.

Further adding to the problem, Government-owned land has been sold off to private investors, and 100% Public Housing  estates demolished, to be replaced by a combination of private housing and Housing Association-managed and/or owned properties.

The solution to homelessness is therefore:

1. Keep management and ownership of existing Public Housing in the hands of Government- no more give aways or sale to private ownership, including Housing Associations.

2. Build as much Government owned and managed housing as is needed as soon as possible- in Victoria we need at least 40,000 new units to provide for those on the Public Housing waiting list, but more would be on the list if the wait werent so long, and the list will probably increase in number because of the likely increase in house prices and rents and economic hardship.

3. Retain as much Government land as is needed for current and future Public Housing, and re-development to be 100% Public Housing until all Public Housing needs are met.

4.Government funding for housing to be exclusively for Public Housing until the waiting list is cleared, then only for non-Public Housing after all Public Housing needs are met into the future.

5.There is probably no need to demolish current Public Housing Estates which are capable of being renovated. There is probably enough land and money to satisfy Public Housing requirements, and demolition unnecessarily disrupts tenants`lives and destroys established communities, as well as wasting resources and disrupting surrounding neighborhoods.

6. The current Social Housing Renewal Programme of the State Government actually violates many of these principles and should be scrapped.

7. An additional point to consider is that with all the building required, it would make more financial sense for the State Government to re-establish a Housing Construction Department, to build the Public Housing directly, rather than its current policy of Public-Private construction, where the Government provides the funding, and the work is done privately and for profit.


Beryl Jarrett  - submission 175