The development of an affordable housing policy could boost housing security for low to moderate income earners in Daylesford and the surrounding region.
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Hepburn Shire Council voted at a meeting on Tuesday night to take the first steps in establishing a plan to address the growing issue of an affordable housing shortage.
Cr Kate Redwood moved the motion for council officers to secure grant funding to develop an Affordable Housing Policy.
"Given the cost of real estate in this shire and given what we know about being a shire with a lot of people with low income who find it very difficult to access housing, having a policy of this kind is very very important," she said during the meeting.
Cr Fiona Robson seconded the motion and said safe and affordable housing was linked to people's health, well-being and participation in community.
"Having a policy is really the first part of quite a bit of work required to actually get affordable housing available to people," she said.
Hepburn Shire currently has no defined policy or strategy on affordable housing.
Each individual council across the state can determine the ways and extent it wants to facilitate the provision of affordable housing.
Having a policy is really the first part of quite a bit of work required to actually get affordable housing available to people.
- Cr Fiona Robson, Hepburn Shire Council
An officer's report to council outlines potential council action, including advocacy to state and federal government for funding of affordable housing and encouragement of developments in the affordable housing sector through the waiving or reduction of rates.
Other options are to make a planning scheme amendment that allows negotiations with developers to include affordable housing and providing free or discounted council land to affordable housing developers.
Hepburn Shire Council officers will now work to secure a grant to fund the development of the new policy, as no council funding is allocated in the 2020/21 draft budget.
It is estimated the project could take six to nine months to complete and cost up to $100,000.
It will involve research on the current demand and availability of affordable housing in the shire and development of an action plan.
Daylesford resident and member of community group Safe Place said he was delighted the council voted to see an affordable housing policy prepared.
The group made a submission to council advocating for the development of such a policy earlier this year.
"We studied other council's policies and found many of them had good ideas," he said.
"For example, there is a thing called inclusionary zoning, which is a term for when a developer comes along and says I want to build 40 hours on this site, the council negotiates with them and says you can have that, but you must allocate five to 10 per cent to affordable housing.
"Those are the kinds of things the council can do and other councils are doing that don't cost a fortune to ratepayers."
Safe Place has been liaising with council to identify land in Hepburn Shire appropriate for affordable housing development and is currently working on plans for one possible location with an affordable housing developer.
Mr Hall made a submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Homelessness in Victoria in March on behalf of Safe Place, advocating for the simplification of regulatory requirements at a state and local level.
"We believe many in our community wish to contribute to the alleviation of homelessness in Hepburn Shire," he wrote.
"Many homeowners would seriously consider the addition of a small home like a granny flat to their property if the process to do this were not so arduous in terms of the planning process, which can take 18 months and encumber the property owner with a number of substantial and costly building issues."
Mr Hall said the state government should also bring in legislation that requires every council to have a proactive affordable housing policy.
It is understood affordable housing is limited in Hepburn Shire due to high property values and high use of housing for tourist accommodation.
In his inquiry submission, Mr Hall referred to an unemployed single mother with children who is renting a small home in Daylesford for $350 a week, well over the considered affordable limit of 30 per cent of her income.
Victoria has the lowest proportion of social housing in the country at 3.2 per cent of dwellings, well below the national average of 4.5 per cent.
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