A NEWLY released report has found that housing in Frankston is becoming more unaffordable.
The report was commissioned by Frankston Zero, a project which had aimed to eradicate rough sleeping in the Frankston area by this month. The report made 28 recommendations to the Frankston City Strategic Housing and Homelessness Alliance.
Between June 2021 and October 2022, 139 people were registered on a list of rough sleepers within Frankston. Just 19 of them were housed in that time.
The report read that housing affordability is a consistent problem in Frankston, and is only getting worse. “The number of affordable private rental housing dwellings available for letting in Frankston City has declined dramatically over the last ten years. This is true for all household types, falling 95 per cent in 20 years from 654 affordable properties in June 2002 to 36 in June 2022, but particularly for single persons,” the report read.
“The cost of private rental properties has increased significantly across Greater Melbourne, and in Frankston City the increase has been even more dramatic. The impact of this is that for very low to low-income groups like single persons and JobSeeker income recipients. As of June 2022, like most other LGAs in Greater Melbourne, Frankston City had become extremely unaffordable for JobSeeker income recipients. A lack of affordable private rental options means people who want to live in the area are either unable to do so, and if they work in the area face long commutes, or they are forced to pay high rents and endure housing stress.”
Frankston Zero chair Jackie Galloway said that housing affordability is linked to a rise in homelessness. “We can see that private rental housing in Frankston City is increasingly unaffordable for all household types,” she said. “There is also a critical shortfall in social housing, especially for singles, young people, and for permanent supportive housing. With these factors in mind, it’s easy to see how homelessness in Frankston has risen by nearly 45 per cent since 2016.”
An increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance funding and the expansion of private rental housing in Frankston were among the recommendations made in the report.
The Frankston Zero group has hosted a series of roundtables with homelessness agencies and government bodies to discuss solutions. It is now calling on the federal government to implement legislative change to help solve the housing crisis.
“Following the roundtables, Frankston Zero is now calling on the federal government to pass Future Fund legislation as the start of the pipeline of future housing. The group is also advocating for the state and federal government to increase social housing, particularly for singles, permanent supportive housing, and youth foyers,” a statement from Frankston Council read.
Frankston Zero was established in 2021. For more information visit melbournezero.org.au/frankston_zero
First published in the Frankston Times – 29th May 2023