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Original Constituency Question from Juliana Addison MP to Parliament –

My question is for the Minister for Housing, and I wish to congratulate him on the new portfolio. Will the minister please update me on the progress of the Big Housing Build and the projects currently underway in my electorate of Wendouree and explain how this investment will benefit my local community.

Our government’s Big Housing Build is delivering 12 000 new homes for Victorians in need and creating tens of thousands of new jobs. I applaud that the Big Housing Build will invest 25 per cent of the total $5.3 billion program across regional Victoria. Significantly Ballarat is guaranteed to share in economic and social benefits of the Big Housing Build, with a minimum local investment of $80 million for social housing and affordable housing in Ballarat.

I look forward to working with the minister to help deliver these transformative housing projects for my electorate of Wendouree.

Response from The Hon. Danny Pearson MP, Minister for Housing (17 October 2022) –

I thank Ms Addison, Member for Wendouree, for her question and interest in the historic $5.3 billion Big Housing Build and other social and affordable housing projects in the electorate of Wendouree.

The Big Housing Build represents an unprecedented investment in a stronger, fairer Victoria. It is a historic investment in building social and affordable housing that is changing lives, and giving thousands of Victorians a job, and a place to call home.

The Victorian Government has provided $5.3 billion for the Big Housing Build to deliver more than 12,000 new homes, including more than 9,300 new social housing properties and 2,900 affordable homes. It will also help Victoria’s building and construction industry recover from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The new social housing properties are prioritised for people in urgent need, including people on very low to low incomes, women and children escaping family violence, people with a disability, people with mental health challenges and/ or people experiencing homelessness.

We know that housing affordability and availability are a particular issue in regional Victoria, that is why the Big Housing Build is investing 25 per cent of the funds, or $1.25 billion, across regional Victoria. This includes a Minimum Investment Guarantee to regional local government areas that have a significant regional town or city or have high population growth.

As you know, for Ballarat the minimum investment is $80 million. I am pleased to report Homes Victoria has exceeded this with an investment of more than $98 million towards social housing in the Ballarat Local Government Area. We have completed 80 homes with a further 216 homes underway and in doing so we have created over 882 jobs.

A total of nine homes were completed in Wendouree as part of the first round of the Social Housing Growth Fund, which was a $4 million investment that had the additional and important benefit of creating 33 jobs.

Our program goes far and beyond building new homes. We have made a further $9 million investment in maintenance and upgrades to 830 existing homes, improving comfort for families and our community through better heating and cooling.

Homes Victoria is working closely with local governments to develop a Social and Affordable Housing Compact – an agreement that will provide a framework to increase and improve the supply of social and affordable housing. Implementation of the Compact will include local agreements with councils to identify agreed priorities for social and affordable housing and innovative responses to local needs.

I thank Ms Addison again for her question and ongoing commitment to creating safe, secure and affordable homes for people living in the Wendouree electorate.

Watch and read more of my speeches to Parliament here, including responses from ministers on how we’re working for Wendouree.

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