Public housing residents, academics, and union leaders have called for the Victorian Government to halt plans to demolish all 44 public housing towers, amid an ongoing parliamentary inquiry.
The Victorian government announced in late 2023 its plans to tear down and rebuild all 44 public housing towers in the state in the largest urban renewal project in the country, slated to be completed by 2051.
Homes Victoria, the government agency responsible for the state’s public housing, said on its website that the buildings were no longer fit for purpose, and the towers built in the 1950s and 70s “no longer meet many minimum design standards.”
The towers’ age and current structure means that they cannot be renovated according to Housing Victoria, and that breakdowns and faults are becoming more common, pushing the need for demolition.
There were 806 submissions made to a parliamentary inquiry and all hearings were completed this month.
Professor Sarah Bell, the director of the Retrofit Lab at Melbourne University, said that the option to retrofit the existing buildings had been overlooked by the Victorian Government.
“It is surprising to me that demolition was the government’s preferred option in all cases,” Prof. Bell said.
“We don’t have the evidence to know whether or not [the Victorian Government] fully considered all of the options in every single case”.
Prof. Bell and her Retrofit Lab team made a submission to the parliamentary inquiry in which they outlined two other possible ways to redevelop the towers.
These are retrofitting, and retrofitting and infill, where new developments are built on the same land as well.
Prof. Bell said that every tower should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and that a blanket approach to every tower is insufficient.
Residents of the demolished towers will have the right to return to the new developments once they have been built, but Prof. Bell said that “people don’t often return”.
“The stress of moving when it’s not your choice can be harmful,” she said.
“Breaking up communities and…place-based relationships can be detrimental to people’s health.”
Pol McMahon, known amongst the community as Pol the Painter, is a resident at the Napier St public housing tower in Fitzroy, who sees the demolition plans as a “breach of faith”.
“Housing security was what we were more or less promised,” he said, and that residents are being let down by the state government.
“We find the flats to be pretty good functioning,” McMahon said.
McMahon had concerns for the disruption to community that demolition would bring.
“These acres wouldn’t come back together in the same way,” he said.
“This is disruption to quite an important cultural hub.”
McMahon said it is a mockery for the government to celebrate the community and culture formed in the towers and then demolish them.
According to Homes Victoria’s FAQ webpage, this project will provide “at least 10 per cent more social housing for Victorians” in newer, modern homes, which will help increase Victoria’s housing stock amid a housing crisis.
However, a critical explainer from the RMIT Centre for Urban Research showed that of the 30,000 new homes that will be built, 19,000 of them will be private housing on these sites.
“Displacement of low-income communities is known internationally to cause serious harm and death,” the report said.
The report also commented on the “loss of an essential public asset,” and the limited certainty for tenants.
Currently, homes in the towers are public housing have rent capped at about 25 per cent of the residents’ income, and the housing is run by the state.
The redevelopment will see this converted to community housing, which is run by private companies, and rent is capped at 30 per cent of tenant income, which is “the point where housing stress begins” for low-income households, the critical explainer said.
Recent media reports suggested more than 10,000 people living in the public housing towers and an estimated 55,000 people on the public housing waiting list.
Cassandra Hogan, Market Manager at The Community Grocer Fitzroy and public housing resident said that the proposal to demolish the towers was a complete dissolving of her community.
The Community Grocer Fitzroy market manager Cassandra Hogan, a public housing resident, said the proposal to demolish the towers would dissolve her community.
“It seems ridiculous in the sense that it’s just this full blanket [decision],” she said.
Hogan said that both housing security and an important community will be lost if the towers are demolished and residents re-located.
Retrofitting and building more housing existing land would benefit community, Hogan said.
“It makes no sense to lose the asset and rebuild from the ground,” she said.
“It doesn’t seem like there’s been any community or academic consultation.
“It is quite an unacceptable option from the government to take away one of the only stable things that is available."
“It’s just meant so much to me, living and working in this community,” she said.
“I hold it very special and very dear”.
The Victorian Government said the disruptions that residents of the current towers face due to building faults and breakdowns was a significant factor in their choice to demolish the towers.
The Victorian Minister for Housing and Building Harriet Shing told the parliamentary inquiry hearing that the towers were ageing, and “have exceeded the lifetime for which they were originally developed”.
“Key systems…like plumbing, like sewerage, are breaking down, and disability access and fire standards are not being met,” she said.
Renters and Housing Union Policy Officer William van den Wall Bake said the government has historically neglected the towers and refused to maintain them properly.
“They claim that they are “forced” into demolitions, but it’s clear that their neglect [of the towers] is a choice,” he said.
“It’s far better – socially and economically – to invest in…retrofitting these towers."
The government should be “preserving homes and communities, rather than tearing them down,” he said.
Homes Victoria said that residents will be provided with lots of notice before relocation, with appointments made to find a suitable location for the displaced tenants.
Homes Victoria will take into account preferred location, healthcare and accessibility needs, as well as social needs when relocating, and cover the moving cost.
Minister Shing told the parliamentary inquiry that the relocations team “pour every bit of energy and effort that they have into making sure that people are equipped with the information that they need” when shifting.
Victorian Legislative Council Member and Chair of the parliamentary inquiry Joe McCracken asked Minister Shing if it would be beneficial for the agency of residents to provide them with the evidence or a report supporting the government’s decision to demolish the towers.
Minister Shing did not provide a report which supported the government’s decision or offer a cost-benefit analysis.
A date is yet to be set for the parliamentary inquiry’s final report.
Minister Shing was contacted for comment but was unavailable for interview before the deadline.
