Public housing towers in Carlton to undergo redevelopment

Two public housing towers in Carlton will be demolished and rebuilt as part of a nation-first housing partnership between the state and federal governments.

Two old and ugly red brick public housing towers in Carlton will be demolished and rebuilt as part of a nation-first housing partnership between the state and federal governments.

On the eve of releasing the state’s long-awaited housing statement, Premier Daniel Andrews joined Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to announce Victoria as the first state to generate a housing redevelopment project as part of the Commonwealth’s Social Housing Accelerator project.

The outdated and empty towers on Nicholson St, which was built in the 1960s, will be transformed into a modern complex with 231 new apartments, a 10 per cent increase on housing availability at the site.

The project will be funded through the federal government’s $2bn Social Housing Accelerator, which has given Victoria $500m to build 769 new homes.

Carlton public housing Towers. Picture: David Crosling

Mr Albanese said the Commonwealth needed to be involved in housing because that impacted people’s prospects in life.

“The first step is the security of a roof over your head. That’s what it did for me, growing up in social housing,” he said.

“To have a roof over my head enabled me to aspire to go to university, to do what I’ve been able to achieve up to this point in my life, and too many people are missing out.

“This is a win, win, win for Victoria.”

Mr Andrews said the existing buildings at Carlton were no longer appropriate to house people, with the last tenants moving out earlier this year.

“They are old, they are out-of-date, they are no longer fit for purpose. They are derelict, there’s no one living there,” he said.

“It’s fenced off and boarded up. We need to do more and do better.

“Nothing is more important than finding a home – and it should be a place of pride, comfort and security.”

The new look apartment complex will be completed by 2028.

Victorian Public Tenants Association CEO Katelyn Butterss said clarification was sought about whether the knock down rebuilds will be publicly owned and managed.

“We are cautiously optimistic but it will be extremely disappointing if the management of these tenancies is once again referred to the community housing sector,” she said.

“The Victorian housing crisis, already grave, has exponentially worsened in the face of mounting cost-of-living pressures, subjecting numerous Victorian households to unrelenting strains.”

The project will be funded through the federal government’s $2bn Social Housing Accelerator. Picture: David Crosling

Council to Homeless Persons CEO Deborah Di Natale welcomed the commitment but said the Andrews government is “starting from the back of the pack” on public and community housing and much more is needed.

“Looking at the big picture, fewer than 800 social homes will barely make a dent in the crisis,” she said.

“We need to build our way out of Victoria’s housing crisis with 6,000 homes a year – or 60,000 over the coming decade – to bring Victoria to the same level of social housing as other states.

“Just 2.9 per cent of households are in public and community homes, putting Victoria behind every other state and territory.”

Federal Australian Greens housing spokesman Max Chandler-Mather said if the minor party had not fought and won $3bn in public and community housing funding, the Premier and Prime Minister would not have made the announcement.

However, Mr Chandler-Mather said it lacked detail and urged Labor to guarantee it won’t involve the sale or leasing of the land to a private entity.

“While today’s announcement is a welcome relief to many who have been waiting years for some news about more community homes being built, it has raised some red flags about Labor’s broader social housing program including long delays on key projects such as Gasworks, privatisation and outsourcing of of public housing, and their refusal to guarantee any promised new public housing will be built,” he said.

“What is infuriating though is that while Labor knows Victorian renters are about to cop another $1.1bn worth of rent increases, they continue to refuse to do anything for the one third of this country that rents

“From now on, every unfair rent increase is on Labor.”