02/08/2012 PUBLIC HOUSING TENANTS REJECT BAILLIEU RENT RISE PLAN By Dante Ceccon PUBLIC housing residents have

rejected radical new plans considered by the Baillieu Government to sell off property, raise rents and force the states lowest income earners out of their homes. Margaret Guthrie, chair of the Victorian Public Tenants Association said options mooted by the Government in the latest social housing inquiry would mean residents would be worse off. If theres a shortage of housing, Im a bit puzzled as to how selling it off will address the shortage, she said. To me that just seems like a way of saying, well its no longer our problems its someone elses problem. Fixed term leases and possible changes to the way rent is calculated were some areas the Government sought feedback for during statewide consultations that concluded on Tuesday. An Auditor Generals report in March predicted the system would have no cash by mid 2013, with more than 37,000 people still on waiting lists and many houses in need of urgent repair. An estimated 10,000 or 14 per cent of properties nearing obsolescence and a significant mismatch of properties to tenant need, the report warned. Shadow housing spokesman Richard Wynne said the Federal Labor Government is behind a recent decline in those waiting for housing. That is simply due to the six and a half thousand units of housing that Julia Gillard has put on the ground in Victoria, Mr Wynne said. The Baillieu Government of course have put no new money into housing in the last two budgets. Mr Wynne said Labor opposed raising any benchmarks that would result in a rent rise for public housing tenants. The very tight targeting of who gets into housing means we are now housing the very poorest people in the community, so therefore their capacity to pay is limited, he said. The Oppositions public housing policies would be clearer closer to the 2014 state election, Mr Wynne said. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Government said Labor and the Greens were to blame for an irresponsible scare campaign. The assessment of the consultation process is now underway and no decisions have been made, the statement said.

University of Melbourne associate professor of property Dr Piyush Tiwari said there had been a worldwide decline in public housing. Public housing in most parts of the world has gone down hill, Dr Tiwari said. The UK for example, the public housing in the 80s and 90s had deteriorated to such an extent that many of those council homes were sold off. Private partnerships might prove to be a more expensive choice for the Government, Dr Tiwari said. It wont be a cheaper option, he said. It will probably be a more expensive option. "The cost of borrowing for the private sector is more than it will be for the Government but in public private partnerships the value for money aspect is far greater than in pure public projects. Those waiting for public housing faced accommodation uncertainty, Ms Guthrie said. That might mean living in a friends lounge room, might mean living in a caravan park with five children to look after, it could be sleeping under a bridge or a refuge, she said. Some of those people may be in very expensive private rental and so to pay the rent they are going without basic necessities, while others on the list may be homeless.