Social housing allocations 2021/22

Social housing allocations report for the 2021/22 financial year

About this data

Homes Victoria is committed to increasing transparency of social housing (public and community housing) data. The social housing allocations data provides information about the allocations made by public housing and community housing organisations who are participating registered agencies to applicants from the Victorian Housing Register.

To uphold privacy information requirements, the release of the data is in line with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

Data is accurate at the time of publication. Regular quality checks may result in small changes to previously published data.

Number of new and transfer allocations

Social housing allocations are categorised as ‘new’ or ‘transfer’ allocations:

• New allocations are households entering into social housing.  Before living in social housing, these households may have been experiencing homelessness or housing stress, including living in crisis or transitional housing, living with family or friends or in private rental. 
• Transfer allocations are households already living in public or community housing and due to changes in their circumstances have relocated to another public or community housing home.
• Total allocations includes both new and transfer social housing allocations.

Allocations into social housing – total allocations

*12 per cent of community housing allocations were to rooming houses, a form of housing not offered by public housing. 

Allocations by application types

Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria for social housing are placed on the VHR according to their housing need.

The VHR consists of 2 application types:

• Priority access: for people most in need of housing, and
• Register of interest: for people who do not have an urgent housing need but are seeking to live in social housing.

Allocations by application type – total allocations

Allocations to newly built or purchased dwellings

From 2021 allocations data began capturing whether allocations were to newly constructed or purchased homes (e.g. new homes funded through the Big Housing Build) or to existing homes.

Existing homes are those that were already in the social housing system, where the previous renter vacated the home, and it has been allocated to another household.

New homes are newly constructed homes (and being rented for the first time), or established homes but are being rented for the first time as social housing.

844 newly built or purchased homes became available for renting to social housing applicants in 2021/22.

Allocations to new or existing social housing dwellings – total allocations

New allocations only for the 2021/22 financial year 

The following provides information on new allocations only for VHR category, household type, Aboriginal households and location of allocated social housing. 

VHR Category

There are 5 broad categories of priority access for new applicants on the VHR. An eligible applicant must meet specific criteria within one of these categories to be approved for priority access. In order of priority these categories are:

• Emergency management housing: for people whose housing is no longer safe or habitable, due to an emergency, for example, a bushfire, flood or storm
• Homeless with support: for people who are homeless or experiencing family violence and need support to obtain and establish appropriate, long-term housing
• Supported housing: for people who live in unsuitable housing and have a disability or long-term health problem requiring major structural modifications and/or personal support to live independently
• Special housing needs: for people who are living in housing that has become unsuitable and who have no alternative housing options
• Special housing needs aged 55 years and over: for people who are eligible for social housing who are aged 55 years and over and are not eligible for another priority category. This category only applies to single people or couples

In addition to the five priority access categories, there is the Register of Interest application type:  

• Register of interest: for people who do not have an urgent housing need but are seeking to live in social housing.

VHR category – new allocations only

Allocations by household type

The different household types on the VHR are outlined below:

• Single youth: 1 person on the application under the age of 25 years.
• Singles general: 1 person on the application between the ages of 25-54 years.
• Elderly single: 1 person on the application over the age of 55 years.
• Elderly couple: 2 people on the application both over the age of 55 years with 1 household member related to the other household member.
• Couple no children: 2 people who are a couple on the application.
• Couple with children: 2 people who are a couple on the application with dependants.
• Single parent: 1 person on the application with dependants.
• Group households: Households comprising of 2 more single persons over the age of 18 years. The individuals may or may not be related. For example this could include two or more single people intending to live in a shared arrangement or a single parent with dependants whose family member/s are also living in the household.

Household type – new allocations only

Allocations to Aboriginal Victorians

This data reports on the number of households where one or more individuals identify as Aboriginal (which includes people who identify as Aboriginal, people who identify as Torres Strait Islander and people who identify as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) and have been allocated social housing from the VHR.

Households where one or more individuals identify as Aboriginal – new allocations only

Allocations by location

Allocations by location – new allocations only 

The following table provides the local government areas within each locational grouping, for the new allocations shown in the table above.