Housing in the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

is characterised by high rates of private housing ownership, minimal and lack of public housing and high demand for, and largely unaffordable, rental housing. Outside of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, home to 70% of the state's population, housing and rent is more affordable. In Melbourne, access to public housing is generally better, but housing and rent are less affordable.

Public housing Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...

in Victoria is usually provided by departments of the Victorian state government and operates within the framework of the Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement, by which funding for public housing is provided by both federal and state governments. Since 2010, both Victoria and Melbourne have been experiencing a rapid increase in population, generating high demand for housing. This has created a housing boom, pushing housing prices up and having an effect on rental prices as well as availability of all types of housing.

Private housing

Private housing in Victoria is of a generally high quality, the majority of it being built post-war and late 20th century, however it suffers from a lack of access to public transport infrastructure and amenity, depending on its location. Many residents are forced into car ownership to enable access to amenities and services and to provide transport to and from work. Most of the infrastructural problems of private housing are also present in Victoria's rental housing. Public transport mode share in Melbourne is around a mere 10%, while many regional Victorian towns are lower. In the late 2000s, private housing prices in Australia, relative to average incomes, were among the highest in the world, prompting speculation that the country was experiencing a

real estate bubble A real-estate bubble or property bubble (or housing bubble for residential markets) is a type of economic bubble that occurs periodically in local or global real-estate markets, and typically follow a land boom. A land boom is the rapid increase ...

similar to many other countries. As of February 2007, mortgage debt was equivalent to 80% of Australian

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...

. By 2009, it had risen to its highest levels of all time in Australian history, around triple the private debt during the Great Depression. According to the

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...

, 32.3% of dwellings in Victoria are owned outright, 35.3% are owned using a mortgage, while 28.7 are rented.

Rental housing

Rental housing in Victoria is currently in high demand under pressure from high population growth. As a result, rental housing can be difficult to obtain, particularly affordable rental housing. Prospective tenants often offer to pay more rent, several months rent up front and other incentives to landlords to secure housing. There is currently little or no

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price cont ...

implemented in Victoria.

Public housing

Public housing in Victoria is characterised by a general lack of availability and quality, many residents in public housing tend to be low income earners. Infrastructure for public housing is characterised by high-rise buildings built in Melbourne by the

Housing Commission of Victoria The Housing Commission of Victoria (often shortened to Housing Commission, especially colloquially) was a Victorian State Government body responsible for public housing in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1938, and was abolished in 1984 ...

in the 1960s, almost all of which are still in use today. More recent public housing projects have been of a low to low-medium density. Access to public housing in Victoria can be difficult as many prospective residents must wait on a waiting lists until rooms and apartments become available. There is a general lack of investment in public housing, leading to a lack of availability and quality. As with many other areas, public housing in Victoria is often associated with increases in various types of crime, isolation and general insecurity when compared with private housing.

History

Victoria's housing history is heavily characterised by the transportation methods in widespread use at the time of housing construction. Inner areas of Melbourne and some regional towns, developed during the late 19th century, enjoy good access to public transport, trains, trams, buses and

cycling infrastructure Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

. In contrast, suburban and outer areas of Melbourne and regional towns, developed during the 20th century, suffer from auto-centric urban forms with poor or no access to public transport. This infrastructure has dictated many elements of housing in Victoria; from private housing prices, rent, general affordability, quality, gentrification and availability of housing, generally increasing where amenity and public transport is best served. Many affluent and gentrified areas have good access to amenity and public transport, while suburban and outer areas are generally cheaper and have poor or no access to good quality amenity and infrastructure.

Housing types

Three storey terraces in drummond street carlton

Housing types in Victoria are dominated by single or double-storey detached suburban dwellings, most of which include living spaces such as a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

living room In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment. Su ...

dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...

, etc., a

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

, front and/or

back yard A backyard, or back yard (known in the United Kingdom as a back garden or just garden), is a yard at the back of a house, common in suburban developments in the Western world. In Australia, until the mid-20th century, the back yard of a prop ...

and a

driveway A driveway (also called ''drive'' in UK English) is a type of private road for local access to one or a small group of structures, and is owned and maintained by an individual or group. Driveways rarely have traffic lights, but some that bear ...

. In inner Melbourne and some inner areas of regional towns, most housing types are of a low to low-medium density terrace style of varying sizes and levels depending on the historical affluence or lack thereof of the area. In inner Melbourne and some other areas, high density housing is also present.

Shoebox style In architecture, shoebox style is a functionalist style of modern architecture characterised by predominantly rectilinear, orthogonal shapes, with regular horizontal rows of windows or glass walls. Dingbat apartments are an undistinguished shoebo ...

blocks of flats constructed in the 1960s and 1970s are extremely common throughout the older, inner city suburbs of Melbourne. Many of these are in the

Dingbat In typography, a dingbat (sometimes more formally known as a printer's ornament or printer's character) is an ornament, specifically, a glyph used in typesetting, often employed to create box frames, (similar to box-drawing characters) or a ...

style. A majority of larger apartment buildings were constructed in Melbourne through the 1990s and 2000s.

Welfare and support

There are a few support and welfare systems available to those living in housing in Victoria, these include access to institutions such as Tenants Unions, government authorities such as the

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) was formed by the ''Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act'' 1998 in the state of Victoria, Australia. As part of the Victorian Justice system the Tribunal sits 'below' the Magistrat ...

and welfare such as 'Rent Assistance' distributed through

Centrelink The Centrelink Master Program, or more commonly known as Centrelink, is a Services Australia master program of the Australian Government. It delivers a range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed, families, carer ...

Housing market

Since the 1980s the median house price in Victoria has been increasing by 7.9% annually. The median unit/apartment price has been growing up by 7.73% yearly.

Statistics

Statistics available, June 2004:Tenants Union Victoria, Victorian Housing & Tenancy Facts & Figures, January 2006 *Total Population: 4,644, 950 *Total Households: 1,928,617 (May 2010) (Source: http://www.tuv.org.au/articles/files/housing_statistics/housing_and_tenancy_statistics_Victoria_052010.pdf) *Number Tenant Households: 382,981 *Number of Private Tenant Households: 328,176 *Proportion Households in the Private Rental Market: 17.9% *Number of Private Tenant Households In Melbourne: 247,208 *Number of Public Tenant Households: 62,645 *Number of recipients of Commonwealth Rent Assistance: 194,507 *Number private tenant households with weekly income is less than $500: 85,186 *Number of residents in Caravan Parks: 15,650 *Number of residents in Rooming Houses: Unknown

Other statistics

*Proportion of all renters with structural or repair problems with their dwelling: **dwellings ten years or less years old: 53.2% **dwellings more than ten years old: 66.5% *Proportion of private rental dwellings with no heating: 10% *Proportion of rental dwellings with no deadlock on front door: 34% *Proportion of rental dwellings with no deadlock on back door: 55%

References

{{reflist http://www.tuv.org.au/articles/files/housing_statistics/housing_and_tenancy_statistics_Victoria_052010.pdf

External links

Tenants Union VictoriaVictorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
Housing in Australia Economy of Victoria (Australia)