Rose and her family are excited to be returning to Flemington.
Rose was one of several renters who moved out of existing homes at Holland Court, Flemington which were no longer fit for purpose, to provide space for not-for-profit housing consortium Building Communities and Homes Victoria to build new social and affordable rental homes.
Rose and other renters were provided with the opportunity to decide if they would like to return to Holland Court late last year.
She was more than impressed with what she saw.
“Out of excitement, we were just like jumping around,” she said.
“I am happy to be back. This is my home, there is nothing like Flemington.”
The Holland Court, redevelopment was announced in 2016. The Victorian Government supported existing renters to relocate, with the option to return once the homes were completed.
Relocations project leader Mark works with renters to help them relocate from their current properties so that they can be redeveloped.
He said his team works closely with renters to find them a new home that meets their needs.
“If a renter wants to stay within their local community to keep their networks intact, we will endeavor to keep them as close as possible.
Homes Victoria covers all the reasonable costs associated with moving for renters who are relocating out of a property that is being redeveloped, as well as reasonable costs associated with returning to their new homes.
Mark and his team are currently helping relocated renters who want to return to Holland Court back home.
About the Holland Court, Flemington Project
The new homes are all built to modern design standards and are energy efficient to keep down the cost of utilities and make them more comfortable.
The redevelopment was completed through a Ground Lease Model.
This means the site was leased to a not-for-profit housing consortium, Building Communities, to develop the new homes and manage them over the next 30 years. After this time, the homes will be returned to Homes Victoria.
The consortium is made up of Community Housing Victoria Limited - a Community Housing organisation with over 30 years of experience providing safe and secure housing to Australians who need housing support – as well as Icon Construction and Tetris Capital.
By partnering with community housing, Homes Victoria is able to build more and better homes.
What is social housing?
Social housing is an umbrella term that includes both public housing and community housing. It generally indicates housing that involves some degree of subsidy.
Public housing is housing owned and managed by Homes Victoria. The government provides public housing to eligible Victorians including:
- people who are unemployed
- on low incomes
- live with a disability or a mental illness
- or who are at risk of homelessness.
What is Affordable housing?
Affordable housing is a broad term describing housing suitable for the needs of a range of low to moderate income households and priced (whether bought or rented) so these households can meet their other essential living costs.
All Homes Victoria affordable homes start affordable and stay affordable.
This means:
- Rents will never be more than market rent with the added protection of a cap set at 30 per cent of a median income.
- A 3-year lease, with the ability for eligible renters to extend their lease for a further 3 years.
- Rent will be increased annually, but no more than 5 per cent.
- All eligible applicants have an equal chance of being offered an affordable home through our ballot process.
What does Homes Victoria do?
Homes Victoria supports all Victorians to have access to safe, secure and affordable housing. We know what it means to have a place to call home. It is the foundation for each person and family’s health, wellbeing and safety. A home enables people to participate in community and the workforce, and to live their best possible life.
We’re working closely with industry, the not-for-profit sector and the community to chart a course for the future. Together, we’re building a sustainable housing system that can deliver for generations to come. And, above all, we’re ensuring more Victorians have a place to call home.
As part of the Big Housing Build, we’re creating 12,000 new homes across the state over the next four years. It’s Victoria’s largest investment in social and affordable housing in its history, creating over 40,000 jobs and $6.5 billion in economic activity across Victoria.
And we’re moving towards retiring our older high-rise housing as part of the High-rise redevelopment project. taking the next big step toward providing more modern, accessible and energy efficient homes, close to shops, transport and services so more Victorians have a great place to call home.
We will retire and transform 44 older-style towers across Melbourne over the coming years. We will deliver modern, accessible homes, and better community facilities. Find out more about High-rise redevelopment here.
Read more Homes Victoria news, including project updates and stories from our renters here.