Earlier this month CHIA National released a report, Quantifying Australia’s unmet housing need – a national snapshot that it had commissioned the UNSW City Futures Research Centre to prepare. The report’s findings are stark and demonstrate the scale of the housing crisis confronting Australia, including in Victoria. It found there are currently over 640,000 households in the country whose housing needs are not being met, meaning they are either homeless or spending over 30 per cent of their income on rent. The research projects that this is set to grow to 940,000 by 2041.
In Victoria, over 146,100 households have been found to have unmet need, with 109,800 of these in Melbourne. The snapshot projects that by 2041 these numbers will grow to 223,200 across the state, with 177,200 of these in Melbourne. Three of the top ten highest areas of unmet need across the country are within Melbourne.
The research estimates that to have these needs met in Australia by 2041, an annual average growth of 6.5 per cent in non-market housing is needed, highlighting the importance of a national housing strategy and long-term funding for more social and affordable housing.