Houses for Mouses

By SAS & BB

Merri-bek can make you a mean kebab, but it can’t give you solutions to homelessness, a lack of public housing and high rental prices.

Any renter in Coburg can tell you that rent prices are out of control. And if you don’t want to talk to them about it – because let’s face it, who does –you can receive the same information from recent reports released by Homes Victoria. Median rent in Merri-bek is currently between $450-$660 per week (depending on rooms). Renting is unusually high in Wills compared to the national and state average, and ABS data from the 2021 Census determines that, in the electorate of Wills, 27.7 per cent of people are in housing stress. According to a 2021 council report, “the only people in Merri-bek guaranteed an affordable rent price are those in public or community housing (social housing), but this is only 3 per cent of Merri- bek homes of which very few are in Coburg’’.

While it’s true that Merri-bek can’t be held responsible for the State Government’s hostility to public housing, they can’t pretend there’s nothing to be done. As the Allen Government is currently busy gutting public housing in favour of a smaller number of privately owned ‘social housing’, local council should be investigating their own solutions. Social housing sounds good, but is often only semi-regulated with easily-met requirements such as short-term affordable rentals. It is also harder to get evicted from public housing, whereas social housing providers can follow the same rules as private landlords. There are plenty of other initiatives Merri-bek could trial pursuant to their ‘affordable housing action plan 2022-26’. At the moment, their plan is mainly focused on facilitating social housing.

In the June 2024 Council Meeting, former councillor James Conlan sparked some controversy by requesting a Council investigation into differential rates for property investors who have more than one residential property in Merri-bek. In response to the media storm, some landlords commented that they would simply raise the rent for their tenants, causing renters to express concern about increases in their already sky high rents. However, Conlan’s background to the report suggested that where the State Government made a similar decision during COVID-19, there was no evidence that the increased rates were passed on to renters.

Another approach is focusing on vacant homes. Housing unaffordability set against a backdrop of multiple unused properties across Merri-bek and broader Melbourne defies economic sense.

In late 2023, the Victorian Greens managed to pass a bill that raises taxes on vacant homes, which took effect on 1 January 2025. The legislation will add a 1 per cent tax liability in the first year, 2 per cent the next, and with a cap of 3 per cent (unless there is a genuine attempt to sell). It is too early to tell if this will make a meaningful impact on housing affordability and availability. The additional tax liability seems quite low.

According to 2024 figures released by Prosper Australia, 1.5 per cent of homes in Melbourne are vacant, and 3.7 per cent are barely used (Brunswick East purportedly wins the contest with over 12 per cent of houses vacant). Housing advocate and senate candidate for Victorian Socialists, Jordan Van den lamb (known on social media as Purple Pingers), has additional data sourced by individuals submitting suspected vacant properties. Mr Pingers reported to the Meddler that he has had 28 homes submitted for Coburg/Coburg North and 110 homes submitted for the Merri-bek area – (excluding some on the outskirts of Merri -bek). This data has been used to match people to empty houses, as well as to draw attention to the absurdity of vacant properties during a housing shortage.

Mr Pingers also argues there are numerous effective measures available at a local council level that could increase housing viability. These include: introducing a definition of “affordable” which is proportionate to renters’ incomes (instead of tied to the increasingly unaffordable “market rate); inclusionary zoning whereby a proportion of new developments are required to be public housing instead of “affordable housing” as defined by Homes Victoria; the purchase of empty properties by council to convert into (council-run) public housing, and removing the extra votes for landlords in local council elections, to name just a few.

Pingers’ tips to identify vacant housing: