Renters slam Victoria’s new affordable housing scheme, labelling it ‘lucky dip’
“Being a good tenant is fair, losing to a lotto isn’t,” share the disgruntled tenants.
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Victorian residents struggling to find a place to live may have further hurdles to cross.
A Melbourne woman explained the new affordable housing scheme, accusing it of being a “lucky dip” rather than a fair process.
She has been looking for a rental property in Ascot Vale and initially planned to apply for the housing scheme before realising how the residents are selected.
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Successful affordable home applicants are “chosen randomly from a list”
Speaking to Yahoo News, she was interested in a brand new two-bedroom property in the Melbourne suburb, listed for $365 per week as part of the Big Housing Build by Homes Victoria.
In order to be eligible for the property through the housing scheme, prospective tenants must earn less than $71,450, live in Victoria and not own any property.
All household members must also be either Australian citizens or permanent residents to be eligible to apply.
Once applied, the application will enter a ballot system, which closes seven days after the listing opens. “In a ballot, the successful applicant(s) are chosen randomly from a list,” the Housing Victoria site reads.
“In this way, all eligible applicants will have an equal chance of being offered an affordable home.”
Frustrated by the new process, the Melbourne resident took to Facebook to air her grievances. There she sarcastically said she loves “that applications for low-income rentals are being drawn from a hat.”
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Affordable housing scheme selection process “not fair, it’s chance”
Other disgruntled residents shared their frustrations with the selection process, comparing it to a lottery game.
“It’s not fair, it’s chance,” someone commented. “Being a good tenant is fair, losing to a lotto isn’t,” added another.
One person jokingly asked if you could “enter multiple times to increase your chances like normal raffle draws.” Some argued this was “another sign of how crazy things have become.”
But for others, the process was more than fair and prevented landlords from favouring one tenant over another. They argued the selection method was ideal, “especially for low-income only housing.”
“They are removing a landlord’s ability to judge, be racist and favour some type of application,” said another. “It stops favouring and makes it a fair system for the (potentially) 10-50 people that will apply. Rentals are hard to get and if this is their way of making it fair, then I don’t really see an issue.”
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Unlike the state’s social housing, which is designed for very low-income residents, Homes Victoria offers a more affordable option for those unable to access other properties.
The scheme includes access to a series of properties with an affordable rent price, often listed at 10 per cent below the market average. The successful applicant will have access to a three–year lease, with the ability to extend their lease for a further three years.
According to Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenant's Union of NSW, Victoria is the only state with the system in place and is set to avoid the country’s “very competitive” market.
“In housing, we make people compete, and that has some really nasty side effects where features of people can become discriminatory,” he told Yahoo News. “So the ballot idea is to try to have a more equal playing field.”
Because the housing process isn’t selected based on a needs basis, Ross argued the ballot selection process is an “equitable way” of allocating affordable housing.
“The idea is to try to break free of this really competitive nature of the application process," he said.
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Originally published as Renters slam Victoria’s new affordable housing scheme, labelling it ‘lucky dip’
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