Almost 100,000 homes are empty in Melbourne, enough for the homeless and people on social housing waitlists, according to a new study. According to a report published by independent think-tank Prosper Australia, one in 20 homes was empty last year. The findings were compiled using residential water use data from 200 postcodes.
Of the 97,681 homes considered vacant, approximately 27,408 were vacant, while the remaining 70,453 were barely used.
The largest increase in vacancy was seen in the City of Melbourne, which almost tripled to an estimated 10,000 empty homes.
The suburbs with the highest vacancy rates of all were Burwood, Box Hill, Malvern, Hawthorn, and Glen Waverley.
“All LGAs, bar Mornington Peninsula, saw their vacancy rates increase by about 20 percent or more,” the report said.
These figures surged off the back of a pandemic exodus, which saw foreign students and workers leave the state to return home.
And now, while thousands of homes sit empty, an estimated 48,620 applicants are on the social housing waitlist and 30,000 people across the state have no home, the report said.
“If vacant homes were all put out for rent, the rental stock would be almost 20 percent larger,” the report said.
The reason for houses being vacant is still unclear and more research is needed, but the report has attributed it to speculative incentives and a federal tax system that supports capital gains.
“That many renters cannot afford to outbid the convenience value of an empty property speaks of deep inequality, the root cause of unaffordable housing,” the report said.
+ There are no comments
Add yours