YARRA COUNCILLORS UNANIMOUS IN THEIR MESSAGE TO LABOR - BUILD PUBLIC HOUSING!

Friends of Public Housing Vic congratulates City of Yarra councillors for agreeing unanimously to a motion put forward by Greens councillor Amanda Stone in July.

The language of the motion was clear and unambiguous and addressed the state government’s plan to build ‘Social and Affordable Housing’ on a Public Housing estate in Wellington St Collingwood as part of its ‘Big Housing Build’ for Victoria.

Councillor Stone’s motion proposed that only genuine Public Housing be built and furthermore it should not replace the carpark which many existing public tenants and their families rely upon. The street parking is metered in the surrounding areas, which would make everyday life extraordinarily difficult and expensive for the public tenants on the Wellington estate if they were denied their carpark.

Please note that the wording of Councillor Stone’s motion is that ‘this new housing is and remains public housing’ ( our italics. )The Council here is clearly trying to block up a loophole that Labor has used in the past whereby the titles of publicly owned buildings are handed over to private Community Housing businesses at a later date.

Regarding the question of consultation, Labor’s Minister for Housing and Planning, Richard Wynne has said that “community consultation is an important part of master planning.”

However public tenant Brian Joss, who lives on the Wellington St public housing complex has stated that the government ‘has not properly communicated with residents’, going so far as to say that the public tenants are being treated like ‘dogs’. “They’re already starting to plan something without telling people what’s going on.”

Socialist councillor Stephen Jolly followed up by hosting a well-attended meeting. He said that the public tenants were “angry about issues on their estate: burnt out units, no recycling, and especially the concern that much needed new housing is inexplicably being built on their vital communal car park. They also want to know why it's social instead of public housing.” This meeting was also attended by Greens Councillor James Conlon.

It’s very important that elected politicians discuss with public tenants the differences between Public Housing and Community/Social Housing and explain to them the greater protections they have as Public Housing tenants. Public tenants have the right to be fully informed. Their future and the future of their families depends on it.

Councillor Stone has said, when discussing public tenants transferring to Community Housing, that they "do not always understand the implications of the different language used to describe different forms of housing and they experience a shock when moving from public to community housing for example." For many public tenants English is a second language which makes it even harder for them to get the information they need.

As Councillor Stone goes on to say, "When the need for housing is urgent, people may accept a place which does not best suit their needs. It can be very difficult to move again if a place is not successful."

Almost 10% of City of Yarra’s population live in Public Housing.This percentage is greater than anywhere else in Victoria.

Therefore it is very important that the Councillors at City of Yarra are keeping their terminology precise and accurate rather than using the ambiguous term 'Social Housing' -and that they are unanimously defending our Public Housing system.

Congratulations again to Councillor Stone and to all the Yarra Councillors.

More Background:

In late 2020, the Victorian Government announced its Big Housing Build, a $5.3 billion investment to build over 12,000 homes in four years. Of these, 9,300 will be ‘social housing’. The rest will be ‘affordable housing’ and private housing. So-called ‘affordable housing’ units can charge rents of up to 80% of the private market rents according to the suburb in which they are built.

The program will also replace 1,100 existing public housing units. This is not widely known or discussed.

Labor’s Big Housing Build is in fact a covert attack on Public Housing -an attempt to wind down a public asset.It will be replaced - ie privatised - with new ‘social/community housing’ run by private landlords.

The destruction of Public Housing and the displacement of our communities is hidden beneath the hyperbole and fanfare surrounding Labor’s ‘Commitment to Social Housing’. This hidden privatisation agenda is not being reported by the media.

‘Engage Victoria’, an online consultation platform delivered via the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, claims that Labor's social housing policy will “support strong and inclusive communities”.

As public tenants we know that you would be hard-pressed to find stronger, more inclusive and culturally diverse communities than those living in Public Housing. These communities will be decimated if Labor succeeds in its plans to displace the public tenants and gentrify the area.

Richard Wynne, the Minister for Housing and for Planning, has been made the sole decision maker on any of the Big Housing Build projects. The state government has removed the powers of Victorian Councils to assess and approve any of the developments.This is not democratic.

Here is the motion made by Amanda Stone and passed unanimously by Yarra Council.

Motion No 7 - 20 July 2021

That Yarra Council

- in relation to the proposed “build” at Collingwood, makes a submission which urges the state government to ensure that:

(i) this new housing is and remains public housing ( government owned and managed );

(ii) no green open space is lost for this build and that any significant trees removed are offset on the estate;

(iii) the new development is of the highest ESD standards with high levels of thermal comfort and indoor air quality;

(iv) the existing car parking provision on site is maintained; and

(v) maintenance of the new buildings be of a high standard and that maintenance levels of existing public housing be improved.

Sources

The Age - “Collingwood housing build could cost tower residents their carpark” By Rachel Eddie. July 2. 2021

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/collingwood-housing-build-could-cost-tower-residents-their-car-park-20210701-p585ux.html

City of Yarra’s Housing Strategy 2018

Stephen Jolly’s Facebook page.

PUBLIC TENANT ACTIVIST GROUP POINTS OUT 'BIG PROBLEMS' WITH THE REVIEW

FRIENDS OF PUBLIC HOUSING VIC'S SUBMISSION TO THE

"SOCIAL HOUSING REGULATION REVIEW"

Friends of Public Housing Vic (FOPHV) endorses the submission from Defend and Extend Public Housing Australia, (DEAPHA) but would like to take the opportunity to stress the following points.

It is often erroneously said that Community Housing rents are 'capped at 30%' of combined household income. The background paper into the Social Housing Regulation Review states that "Rents may be higher" in Community Housing than in Public Housing. "CHOs can charge up to 30% of household income ( plus CRA )"

The Victorian Housing Register in its section 'Understanding your Community Housing Rent' states clearly that "Rents for lower income households must not exceed 30% of gross household income at commencement of the tenancy' ( our italics ). Later it states that "Rent does not automatically adjust if household circumstances change." The only requirement is that the registered agency must have some kind of hardship provision strategy in place. From FOPHVs extensive contacts with tenants and their legal representatives we know that in practice this often translates to a few weeks of reduced rent being 'granted' by the Community Housing landlord. If you lose your job, get sick, have your casual shifts cut back etc you are not significantly protected in Community Housing.

Therefore it is simply false to say that Community Housing rents are capped at 30% of household income, a fact that even some of the housing academics get wrong, perhaps because they, like many other privileged groups who advise on government policy, do not necessarily know what is happening 'on the ground'.

The government should listen to the tenants themselves with direct experience of low income, insecure and casual work and the vagaries of government policies regarding pensions and entitlements.

On this point countless public tenants have been misinformed about the protections they might lose transferring to Community Housing, being told that Public Housing and Community Housing are 'much the same thing' - all under the rubric of Social Housing.

By contrast, Public Housing rents are readily rebated to 25% whenever a tenant's household income changes. It is this vital protection that literally keeps people off the streets.

The Housing Register goes on to say that 'a rent figure may include other charges such as for water and electricity'. "Such as" utility charges, but not limited to them. This is another example of the vague and misleading language that bedevils this area. From our contacts we know that parking, maintenance of the grounds, and even so-called 'wrap-around' services such as communal activities for tenants organised by their landlords ( often perceived as paternalistic ) can be included in the rent calculations. We know from our contacts that Community Housing tenants can pay up to 50% of their income to their Housing Association landlords in one way or another.

In differentiating between the Public Housing model and Community/ Social Housing, the background paper raises the topic of Commonwealth Rent Asssistance - CRA. A perpetual ongoing stream of CRA is being mis-used as an operating subsidy for the Community Housing industry that would be far better spent in building public housing. The fact that Public Housing is genuinely affordable and does not need CRA since it is outside the market, is one of the many great strengths of the Public Housing model. This point is not made in the background paper.

It is false to give the impression that Community Housing Organisations have, as a top priority, the goal of housing homeless people - unless you consider the church groups set up by government to mop up the social fallout of what is essentially the privatisation of Public Housing. Again, homeless people are perceived as not 'market viable.' Professor of Urban Housing and Homelessness RMIT and Director of Unison Housing Research Lab, Guy Johnson, in his evidence to the Vic Legislative Council's Inquiry into Homelessness ( 22 Nov 2019 ) pointed out that the financial model underpinning Housing Associations mitigates against them housing homeless people. Furthermore Prof Johnson, in his evidence to this Committee, conceded that when examining the factors preventing homelessness, Public Housing excelled : "what stood out was Public Housing. The magnitude of its effect was many times greater than anything else."

This evidence has yet to be given its full weight.

FOPHV believes that Public Housing should be the cornerstone of Government housing policy direction.

Finally FOPHV has serious concerns regarding Conflict of Interest and the Victorian government's assurance that this review is independent. All three panelists have strong ties, past and present, with the Community Housing Industry and/or KPMG.

People with experience of living in public housing communities and/or homelessness should be directly consulted and on the review panel.

The background paper on this review says that the majority of public tenants choose not to voluntary leave their Public Housing homes. Our experience agrees with the DAEPH submission that tenants overwhelmingly choose Public Housing over Community Housing.

We value our Public Housing homes and want to see the public system improved and extended rather than dismantled and privatised.

Jeremy Dixon, Fiona Ross, Eileen Artmann - Spokespersons Friends of Public Housing Victoria.

VIC GREENS LEADER ON THE INCREASED PRIVATISATION OF PUBLIC HOUSING IN THE PAST 5 YEARS

Friends of Public Housing Vic supports the motion made by Dr Samantha Ratnam, Leader of the Victorian Greens, at the last sitting of Parliament in June 2021. The wording of the motion is forthright about the role of "Community Housing / Social Housing" in the privatisation of our Public Housing sector in Victoria.

Public Housing belongs to the people of Victoria, now and for future generations.

The ongoing covert privatisation of Public Housing is an agenda shared by both the Labor and Liberal parties.

Congratulations Samantha for exposing the term "Social Housing'as an obfuscating term.

FOPHV always addresses the clever role language is playing in the privatisation of Public Housing. What a pity the general public is being hoodwinked into thinking they are one and the same thing.

Here is Samantha's motion.

That this House —

(1) notes that Victoria is in a housing crisis, with 25,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night and over 100,000 people currently on the public housing waiting list;

(2) condemns the Government for neglecting the public housing system in Victoria, by failing to properly respond to tenant issues and complaints and letting units fall into disrepair;

(3) acknowledges that over the last five years public housing in Victoria has repeatedly been demolished or privatised, with the government shifting responsibility for housing to community housing associations and developers;

(4) further acknowledges that the Government uses the term ‘social housing’ to disguise its failure to invest in the public housing system and calls on the Government to immediately commit to build 100,000 new public housing homes within 10 years.