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Housing crisis grips Gippsland as rental availability drops to nearly 50%

Affordable rentals decreased from 1053 to 543 in June quarters 2020 vs 2021

A review by One Gippsland has revealed a critical accommodation shortage across the region. The decrease in availavility has lead to massive increae in households seeking social housing assistance.

By news@gippsland - 18th October 2021 - Back to News

Data analysed by One Gippsland has identified an almost 50% (48.43%) decrease in available affordable rentals in Gippsland over the past 12 months. Affordable rentals decreased from 1053 to 543 - a decrease of 510 over from the June 2020 quarter to the June 2021 quarter.

Building an inclusive, dynamic Gippsland

In addition, the number of households seeking social housing assistance has grown to almost 3400 (3,399) households, with demand outstripping supply across the region. Chair of One Gippsland Cr Brett Tessari said "We have a vision to build an inclusive, dynamic Gippsland that is a great place for people to live and work. The current lack of housing across the affordable and social sectors is proving a real barrier to positive regional growth."

"We would like to acknowledge the support committed by the government under the Big Housing Build, and the priority given to the Gippsland region. As our analysis shows, there is a continuing deficit of housing across the region and these shortages will require significant government investment. For example, in Bairnsdale the rental demand increased 300 percent from January 2019 to January 2020." Cr Tessari said.

Supporting the advocacy

The ongoing impacts of the destruction caused by bushfires and floods, consistently high levels of homelessness and domestic violence in Gippsland that are well above the state average, are a significant contributor to the social housing challenge in the region. This has been exacerbated by COVID-19 which has seen an influx of people moving to regional Australia with a 200% increase in net growth to regional areas according to Infrastructure Australia figures.

"One Gippsland will be supporting the advocacy of all our shires in relation to meeting the need for both affordable and social housing across our region through the competitive processes associated with the Big Housing Build funding pipeline" Cr Tessari said.

Data analysed by One Gippsland, the high rents rise and demand outweighs supply in an extremely tight housing market, these factors are continuing Gippsland renters out of secure housing

Pictures from One Gippsland website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com