Community housing models

Rooming houses

The term ‘rooming house’ covers a wide range of housing types provided by Community Housing Organisations (CHO) that manage properties under the rooming house provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA).

Three broad features categorise the diverse range of rooming house accommodation CHOs provide:

• Rooms with shared facilities
• Rooms with self-contained facilities (kitchen and bathroom), which are also known as bed-sits
• Rooms with support attached, with or without self-contained facilities.

Many rooming houses are now being renovated so that the rooms are self-contained with their own kitchenette and bathroom.

Rooming houses serve an important role in housing singles in the social housing system. These properties function to house the most marginalised individuals who have often been sleeping rough and are taking the first step in adjusting to stable housing.

Within the spectrum of community housing properties, it is rooming houses that directly deal with chronic homelessness and look to assist often single people in adjusting to more stable living.

Join the rooming house networking group

Our Rooming House Sector Group meets regularly to provide members with an opportunity to work together on current issues and government policy as well as share resources and support each other in their professional lives. This group is supported by CHIA Vic’s Jason Perdriau.

Contact Jason for details.

Housing co-operatives

Housing co-operatives empower their residents by getting them actively involved in the management of their housing co-operative. There are two types of housing co-operatives in Victoria: Common Equity Rental Co-operatives through Common Equity Housing Limited (CEHL) and Rental Housing Co-operatives. Co-operative members in both models undertake significant responsibilities for carrying out tasks associated with running a housing co-operative.

Common Equity Rental Co-operatives are owned by registered community housing organisation Common Equity Housing Ltd, which provides asset management including property upgrades, training and resourcing of the co-operatives, negotiating and servicing of loans, and is responsible for program administration, including ensuring program directives are met and reporting to government. In some cases, CEHL takes on more active management of the co-operative, but in all co-operatives, there are opportunities for renter member participation in the running of the housing.

Rental Housing Co-operatives lease most of their properties from the Director of Housing, and tenancy management and maintenance is carried out by a paid worker under the direction of the Co-operative’s Board of Directors. Rental Housing Co-operatives are governed by voluntary renter members with support from professional staff.

The key principles of living in a co-operative include:

• The renter member must be willing and able to participate in the running of the co-operative and is focused on fair and equal access to those who wish to participate, which includes encouraging the occupancy, participation, and full social integration of people with special needs.
• Co-operative housing is run democratically with all members having equal voting rights, and membership is distributed in a manner that encourages equal participation.
• Members contribute fairly to the running of the housing.
• Housing co-operatives are independent entities controlled by their members.
• A housing co-operative should support the further education of its members to help meet their responsibilities and deepen their commitment to the performance of the co-operative.

Join the co-op networking group

 Our Housing Co-operative Sector Group meets regularly to provide members with an opportunity to work together on current issues and government policy as well as share resources and support each other in their professional lives. This group is supported by CHIA Vic Policy and Projects specialist Jess Pomeroy.

Contact Jess for details.

Transitional housing

Transitional Housing is a supported short-term accommodation program. It makes up 20% of community housing tenancies and acts as a stepping stone to more permanent housing in public housing, community housing or the private rental market.

People moving into transitional housing have often been victims of a change in circumstance. For example, a lost job has meant the rent can’t be paid, a marriage break-up leaves one partner with no money or support, or a person may lose the support of – or can no longer live with – other family members.

Individuals are provided with a housing support program that offers advice and planning in the areas where assistance is needed. A key element of transitional housing is that it’s a temporary option, and tenants must be actively working with their support provider to apply for long-term housing (for example, public housing or private rental).

There are 12 transitional housing providers around Victoria managing a total of 3,385 tenancies as of July 2019.

Join the THM networking group

 Our Transitional Housing Sector Group meets regularly to provide members with an opportunity to work together on current issues and government policy as well as share resources and support each other in their professional lives. This group is supported by CHIA Vic Policy and Projects specialist Jess Pomeroy.

Contact Jess for details.