2024-07-12
Freedom of Information (FOI) documents seen by the Victorian Greens expose that thousands of public housing homes have been kept empty for hundreds of days on end, some over a year, while more than 120,000 people remain on the waiting list for housing.
The Victorian Greens say that Labor has refused to acknowledge public housing vacancy as an issue and this continues their trend of retreating from public housing in Victoria as they plan to demolish and privatise all 44 public housing towers signalling an end to public housing in the state.
Acting Greens spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Gabrielle de Vietri expressed her extreme concern to hear that thousands of homes are sitting empty while more than 120,000 people remain on the waiting list for housing.
She said that it begs the question of whether homes are deliberately being kept empty as Labor plans to demolish and privatise public housing.
Quotes attributable to Acting Victorian Greens spokesperson for Public and Affordable Housing, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“How dare Labor keep this extraordinary number of public homes empty while 120,000 Victorians wait desperately for somewhere to live.
“Women with abusive partners have been forced to stay in dangerous relationships, school children are being forced to live in tent cities, and young renters are facing debilitating rent increases.
“Victorians have every right to be furious that the Victorian Labor government is willfully and knowingly making the housing crisis worse by keeping homes away from people who need them.
“Labor has refused to acknowledge public housing vacancy as an issue, even though the vacancy rate has continued to increase year on year since 2018.
“It’s clear that the Allan Labor government is hell bent on washing their hands of public housing. This comes on top of Labor’s plans to demolish and privatise all 44 public housing towers signalling an end to public housing in Victoria.
“With homes sitting empty for hundreds of days on end and some over a year, the question has to be asked whether these homes are deliberately being left empty to make it easier to demolish and privatise the lot.
“Labor must immediately fill these empty homes or risk fueling a spiralling housing crisis.”