Flood recovery housing welcoming tenants

Ms Ferguson said she lost all her possessions in the floods and described the experience as “horrific”.

After being displaced, she struggled with loneliness and having to move away from her small community.

Now, Ms Ferguson is one of six tenants in housing built in Shepparton for flood-affected residents in the region.

She moved in about a month ago.

The development, a partnership between the Victorian Government and Beyond Housing, includes eight rental properties.

Six have already been filled, the remaining two are expected to receive tenants in the coming weeks.

Beyond Housing contributed an investment of about $500,000, while the government contributed $2.8 million.

“The launch and the opening of these properties that have been built under the flood recovery program are so critical to communities such as Shepparton who experienced such incredible loss and trauma as a result of the October 2022 floods,” Beyond Housing chief executive Celia Adams said.

“Long after the water receded, people were still displaced, people’s jobs were affected.”

Beyond Housing rents the properties to low- and very low-income earners.

Nobody pays more than 30 per cent of their income in rent, according to Ms Adams.

Victorian Housing Minister Harriet Shing, said funding announced after the 2022 floods was earmarked to ensure people who were displaced could find accommodation and also enable them to stay close to their town and connections.

“Staying connected is a huge part of recovery from any disaster, any emergency, and this is where this housing plays such an important role, not only in meeting need but in enabling people to stay connected and to get back on to their feet,” she said.

Jeffrey Cavanagh, another tenant in the newly finished flood recovery housing, said it helped to have a community.

“It helps being accepted by neighbours,” he said.

Mr Cavanagh was living in Mooroopna when the floods devastated the area.

He said there should be more initiatives like this one to help people like him.

“If I was competing for a house in public it would be pretty hard because I don’t have any rental references,” he said.

Ms Shing said the government had invested in around 70 homes in the region through the flood recovery program, including the eight built in Shepparton near Goulburn Valley Health.

She said the government also continued to invest in social housing, recognising the growing list of people on housing waitlists.

State Member for Shepparton Kim O’Keeffe said the state’s social housing stock had decreased in recent years.

Data from the Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services shows there were nearly 500 fewer social housing dwellings in Victoria in June 2024 compared to the same time in 2023.

“The Allan Labor Government has overseen a reduction of close to 500 social housing dwellings in just one year,” Ms O’Keeffe said.

“With so many people waiting for social housing in our community these figures are an indictment of the Labor Government’s social housing record.”

However, Ms Shing said the report did not include capital infrastructure.

“We are continuing to invest record funding to address the housing shortages, but we’re also upgrading some really old housing stock,” Ms Shing said.

“This means that as we build more housing we also need to make sure that we’re repairing, maintaining or upgrading existing housing, and that we’re also bringing that housing that’s no longer fit for purpose offline.

“The work goes on; however, there is no finish line when it comes to investment in social housing.”

According to the government, more than $120 million is being invested across Greater Shepparton to build 310 new homes, with more than half already finished and available for families on the Victorian Housing Register.