CHIA Vic commissioned the Unison Housing Research Lab to investigate the issues and costs involved in providing housing for single person households by the community housing sector in Victoria.
The project, Housing Challenges for Single Person Households, focussed on three areas:
- A study of Victorian Housing Register (VHR) data to give insights into current and future demand for singles housing,
- The challenges these households experience in sustaining tenancies and the existing initiatives that address these challenges, and
- A study of Unison Housing tenancy management data to analyse the specific costs of providing singles housing relative to other groups.
The findings show that the crisis of housing singles stems from inadequate income support, constraints this imposes on project viability when building new singles housing, and the lack of appropriately funded and targeted tenancy supports to help singles maintain their housing.
From these findings CHIA Vic has developed a policy paper to help guide decision making in addressing the crisis of housing for single persons. To see this paper, which includes a set of recommendations for government, click here.
To view the three reports produced by the project see the links below.
Assessing the costs of providing social housing to singles
Supports for single social housing renters
Characteristics of households on the Victorian Housing Register