Summary

• Big Housing Build project, the biggest public housing project in the state, comes as a great news for many Victorians that lost their homes due to COVID-19. Currently, Victoria has the lowest percentage of public housing for its residents.
• Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the BHB project on 15 November highlighting the construction work will start as soon as possible.
• The overall project is expected to finalise by June 2024, but most of public homes are likely to be built by June 2023.
• Women, Aboriginals, disabled people, immigrants, cadets, trainees, and apprentices will all get the opportunity to join the new Victorian workforce consisting of ~43,000 jobs over the next four years.

It has been a tough year for Victorians. Having spent months within the confines of their homes in one of the world’s strictest lockdowns, people of Victoria can finally enjoy their much-coveted freedom.

However, freedom was not the most important thing for many Victorians when Australia was going through its worst COVID-19 phase. Many were forced to shut their businesses and not work for months due to curfews in Melbourne and movement restrictions throughout the whole state.

Even though Victoria has suffered and lost a lot in recent months, the circumstances appear to be better every day, with more stimulus projects being announced frequently.

The most recent plan made by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ government was announced on Sunday 15 November, earmarking A$5.3 billion for Big Housing Build project to build more than 12,000 public homes for those that need it the most. Both regional and metropolitan parts of the Victorian state will be included in one of the biggest housing projects in the continent.

The Andrews government wants to secure more homes for low- or middle-income families as part of the economic recovery from the coronavirus. The Big Housing Project is expected to secure new homes for thousands of Victorians and create more than 43,000 jobs in the next four years.

Construction for 12,000 homes will begin as soon as possible, leaving no scope for delay in one of the most significant projects that the Andrews government has ever announced. This news comes after years of under-investment in social housing, as more than 100,000 people are still on the waiting lists for affordable living. About half of them need to be urgently placed into safe housing.

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Who will the housing be reserved for?

Mr Andrews stated that Big Housing Build will construct units for 1,000 Indigenous Australians, 1,000 apartments for sufferers of domestic violence, and 2,000 units for those struggling with some sort of mental illness.

Some of the 2,900 new homes will be supplied for families that work in the city but live far out in regional areas. That way, more Victorians will be able to afford to rent a place closer to metropolitan areas. All homes will be built as contemporary, yet affordable for a wider audience. However, 25 per cent of the entire sum will be used for regional Victoria. 

The overall housing supply will increase by ten per cent by 2024, with a total of 9,300 new homes. Some of those units, 1,110 to be precise, have already served as public units, but will now be under construction and looking better.

Homeless people will get the largest priority out of all low-income and challenging families. As Victoria has only 1.9 per cent of overall social housing, that number is putting the state well below the OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) average – 4.6 per cent.

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What does Big Housing Build mean for Victoria?

Having lost many digits in the state’s revenue, Victoria is eyeing an additional A$6.7 billion boost to its economy that the Building project will bring.

With a 7-star efficiency standard for new homes, Victorians that move in new units will have lesser bills to pay, saving them money that could be used for other necessities. Homes Victoria is a new government agency that will make sure everything is going smoothly with the novel-presented project.

Apprentices, cadets, and trainees will form ten per cent of all construction site jobs required for the build. Approximated 10,000 jobs annually over the next four years will bring a feeling of reassurance for many Victorians, and Australian economy in general.

Vulnerable people in Victoria – women, immigrants, Aboriginals, people with incapacities, and previous tenants in social housing, will get an opportunity to find new jobs in the construction industry.

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When will new housing be done?

Mr Andrews wants to demonstrate ‘quick action’ and start with constructions as soon as possible.

According to his estimate, 11,000 residences should be finalised by June 2023, while the remaining residences are scheduled to be constructed by June 2024.

Geelong, a metropolitan part of Victoria, will get A$180 million from the new project. Following Geelong, Bendigo will obtain A$85 million, while Ballarat will acquire A$80 million for affordable housing.

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