There is still a significant shortfall of social and affordable housing to meet community need, as affordable housing is not being delivered at a pace to meet population growth, according to the Cardinia Shire Council.
The council has released a progress report on its Social and Affordable Housing Strategy, showing promising results.
Council developed a Social and Affordable Housing Strategy in 2018 to help ensure all residents in the shire have access to safe, affordable and secure housing that meets their needs.
At its meeting on Monday 11 December, the report card revealed the number of social and affordable dwellings delivered through the strategy was above the initial target, while signalling more work was required to meet community need.
The report card shows the council has:
– Negotiated with developers to provide 22 new dwellings to community housing providers.
– Used surplus council-owned land to help deliver new homes for older women, children and women experiencing family violence, and 16 independent living units for people with mental health conditions.
– Become a signatory to the Regional Local Government Homelessness and Social Housing Charter and contributed to joint advocacy efforts.
Speaking on the report, Councillor Collin Ross said, “this council has done more in this space than what most interface councils do”.
“This is a moving document, it’s relevant at the moment and great to see we got ahead of the game and we are doing something really meaningful in this area.”
The council said they are on track to complete the Action Plan by 2025, but there is still a significant shortfall of social and affordable housing to meet community need, as affordable housing is not being delivered at a pace to meet population growth.
The council said they welcomed the State Government’s commitment to build more social and affordable housing as detailed in its Housing Statement, and would continue to work with community housing providers, developers, philanthropists and other levels of government to increase the supply of social and affordable housing in the shire.
For more information about social and affordable housing, and to view the council’s strategy, visit cardinia.vic.gov.au/affordablehousing
