One man's struggle with homelessness has highlighted an ongoing issue in Ballarat and surrounding communities.
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Peter, which is not his real name, is well-dressed, eloquent and engaging to speak with. He is well-known across the wider Ballarat region, particularly for his involvement in various community groups.
He is therefore not the type of person you would expect to have been sleeping rough in his car for five weeks.
But Peter, who is almost 70, is one of dozens of people who are sleeping rough across the city as another cold Ballarat winter fast approaches.
While he maintains that it isn't "too bad", he is exposed on the streets.
Every time he thinks he has found a safe place to park his car and retire for the night, another incident highlights just how vulnerable he is.
Each morning he wakes up and stretches after another long night trying to get comfortable in his car. He described sleeping as "like an art" for him now - his body is contorted amongst many of his belongings, with little room to move.
Once the sun rises he travels to a gym to shower, before, as he is unable to cook for himself, travelling to a community breakfast.
He then goes about his day as he normally would.
Road to homelessness
Training as an engineer, Peter returned to Ballarat in the early 1990s to care for his ill mother.
He lived with her for more than 14 years, until she passed away, and then started renting a home in 2006.
It was towards the end of 2017 that his prolonged experience of homelessness began- his landlord informed him, with short notice, that they were selling the house he and his wife had been living in for seven years.
Suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis and other persistent health issues for the majority of his adult life, his ability to work has been severely impacted for the last 45 years.
"My income was severely curtailed by my conditions," Peter said, adding he survived on a pension.
The desperation of his situation saw him move into a friend's home for what was originally supposed to be a few nights, but was able to stay for eight months.
"It was at the end of that period that the sense of being 'homeless' had started to set in," he explained.
Acquiring his first taste of sleeping in his car for a night while he searched for crisis accommodation, he was instantly confronted with the complexities and stress of attempting to secure another affordable place to live.
Just before Christmas in 2018 he secured a bed at a crisis accommodation facility for men, Peplow House, while his wife was accepted to stay in an all-women's residence in Ballarat Central.
Peter spent six weeks at the Webster Street residence, before moving into Lydiard Street's Reid's Guest House.
While intended to be a short-term accommodation option while longer-term accommodation is sought, Peter ended up living in an ensuite at Reid's for three years.
He was led to believe that by staying there he would remain at the top of the social housing list, but has only recently learned that he is not- because he has been living there, he is considered 'housed' and is technically towards the bottom of the list.
He, like many others, were displaced by an explosion at the guest house in February.
He still distinctly remembers the shock he felt and being ushered from the building he called home by emergency services in the middle of the night, before camping on the floor of Uniting's Breezeways building with all the other displaced people.
What few people would know is that residents do pay to stay at Reid's. Peter had a special rate, which cost him almost $500 a fortnight. Factoring in other costs, such as storage for all his belongings, his phone bill and food, little of his pension remains.
While initially 'housed' at a private facility in Alfredton for a fortnight post-fire, it was when he was asked to pay an ongoing fee of $850 that he realised it was "impossible" and he simply could not afford to stay there.
Living on a pension means he cannot afford to live in a private rental at the current rates, with prices for these becoming increasingly exorbitant.
The rental market has been horrendous in Ballarat and it's just been so difficult to find anything affordable
- Peter
"The rental market has been horrendous in Ballarat and it's just been so difficult to find anything affordable," he told The Courier.
According to REIV data, the current rental vacancy rate in Ballarat is 1.1 per cent, a slight decrease since the same time last year.
The median rental weekly rent in Ballarat is $370 for a house and $300 for a unit.
So he has been living in his car since realising the Alfredton residence was an unviable option. It has been five weeks now and his health has been declining as a result.
He carefully selects where he parks so he is not recognised, and also needs to take into account privacy.
The residence his wife was staying at was sold during the pandemic, so she has since moved to Adelaide to stay with friends.
With Peter needing to stay in Ballarat for various reasons, it means the couple haven't seen each other for 12 months.
Housing challenges
Peter has experienced more than one "disappointment" throughout his time as a homeless man, when he has come close to securing a house, but the opportunity has been snatched away at the last minute.
He has embarked on numerous avenues to secure an affordable place to live, but every time, despite his faith that his situation will improve, he has been left disappointed.
Or in his words: "I feel like I've been left, along with others, abandoned".
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He now feels that he might be "better off" living in his car if it means he will be fast-tracked to secure social housing.
Homelessness impact
While he said some in the community held the belief that people became homeless due to drug use, he said that for some, it was "just unfortunate" and the result of a bad scenario - disability, family violence or mental health issues.
"Unfortunately when they get this way they don't have the skills to extract themselves from it," he said.
Despite his profile and having friends "from the top end of Toorak to St Albans", he does not see the need to hide his situation. He has told his key friends, and believes that is enough.
"I tell who I want or need to tell. I don't walk around with a sign on my back, because what would be the point of that?
"You can go down the embarrassment route. Most of my friends have done well in life, their kids went to private schools and some have a beach house.
"To me, it's like we all get a path in life or role to play in life and sometimes we think we get to choose and sometimes we don't. And that's where I am."
With his career ending as a result of his conditions, he has joined many boards "to give back to the world the knowledge [he has] gained."
But despite his situation, Peter tries not to let it get him down.
"You can beat yourself up about it and what you could have done differently.
"But I try not to go down any dark psychological or ontological tunnels about it. Psychologically, I am just trying to frame it as an inconvenience."
His life is continuing as it did before "but with added inconvenience and reduced comfort".
"It's really been a 'nose-down' and intentionally constructive approach with the generous support of many, to come up with a viable long-term solution for myself and my wife.
"Although some friends have offered sympathy, I have been very taken by the extraordinarily untiring and determined unsolicited efforts of other, not quite as close, friends to advocate on my behalf through both political and other relevant agencies."
Despite their current struggles, Peter and his wife continue to look forward to the day they have another place to call home, and to move forward "with assuredness and confidence that the basics have been attended to".
A house will mean they will be reunited and have a private space to pursue interests, meditate, exercise and entertain, but also to unpack all of their belongings from storage and find a room to place Peter's beloved leather-topped desk in.
Solutions
Peter, who once wrote a thesis on housing loan finance, believes "both of the main parties have fallen asleep at the wheel for a long period of time".
He said governments seemed more concerned about negative gearing, "which parliamentarians on both sides of the divide benefit with their investment properties".
"Interests rates are at, seemingly, their lowest possible level.
"Housing prices have risen concomitantly but there is little experience with what is likely to happen when interest rates rise inevitably.
"Suicides will no doubt occur and more people will be displaced upon the inevitable foreclosures."
He said rental and mortgage distress was said to occur when more than 30 per cent was spent on housing.
He suggested that was already far exceeded for many and so, people had little to spend on other things "which negatively affected the rest of the economy".
"There appears, prima facie, to be a drastic need to improve the quality and quantity of public offerings, however there appears to be a greater need for an extensive but nuanced enquiry into how the issues should be addressed."
For him, personally, aside from a house he also believes better case management processes are needed - to deal with people who find themselves in a position of needing crisis accommodation, and then how they can secure long-term housing.
"However, there appears to be a wide disparity between the care and diligence afforded from the participating agencies.
"Other than the physical infrastructure required, an enquiry into the fair assessment of allocation of places and the dealings with individual's physical, mental and emotional needs in this fundamental area appears apposite," Peter said.
Senior Manager Homelessness at Uniting Vic.Tas, Adam Liversage, said its housing support team worked with people experiencing homelessness in their transition to "safe and secure housing".
On any given night, there are hundreds of people across Ballarat who are experiencing homelessness. Some are sleeping on the streets or in a car, 'couch surfing' with family or friends or are simply unable to afford to rent
- Adam Liversage
"On any given night, there are hundreds of people across Ballarat who are experiencing homelessness. Some are sleeping on the streets or in a car, 'couch surfing' with family or friends or are simply unable to afford to rent," he said.
Mr Liversage said the housing and homelessness support services was experiencing "unprecedented demand" across the Ballarat region.
"Rising rental prices for houses and units have pushed many people out of the market and increasing cost of living, family breakdowns and family violence are also major contributors to homelessness.
"As part of the Homelessness to a Home program, funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by Uniting Vic.Tas, we recently found long-term, permanent housing for 34 households across the Central Highlands, including Ballarat, and the Homes for Families program will deliver another 10 homes for local Ballarat families.
"We don't want to see anybody sleeping on the streets, in their cars or on friend's couches. We know how important it is for everybody to roof over their head and a stable home and that's why we continue working to secure as many local housing options as possible for those experiencing homelessness."
The state government announced on Friday that it would introduce a new rental scheme to make more than 2000 homes more affordable to low and middle income earners.
In regional Victoria, rent will be set at the median market rental price and be capped at 30 per cent of the median income.
At least 500 of these homes will be available in regional Victoria, with the first expected to be available in Ballarat, Greater Geelong and Bendigo.
Minister for Housing, Richard Wynne, said the scheme would help sustain and grow affordable housing and ensure "more Victorians have the safety, security and dignity of a home".
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