As of March 30, the Victorian Housing Register reported 1294 Shepparton households were on the wait list for social housing, with 645 seeking priority access.
But BeyondHousing said this was only the beginning, with a severe spike in the number of homeless locals expected to be revealed in the next round of data, released in July.
On Sunday, the Victorian Government announced it would throw agencies a $9.8 million lifeline, extending temporary accommodation for rough sleepers until the end of July.
But BeyondHousing chief executive Celia Adams said this was not enough, and was “extremely concerned” when locals left hotels at the close of next month, there would be nowhere for them to go.
“When the JobKeeper and additional JobSeeker income payments for COVID-19 end in just a few months, and the rental eviction moratorium and rent relief grant is over, there is going to be another massive increase in the number of people seeking our support for homelessness, many for the first time," Ms Adams said.
“We need to rapidly acquire more social housing now and plan for and fund more social housing construction immediately.
“Once there is an influx in demand, if we haven’t acted, there are no options for long-term housing.”
Despite her concerns, Ms Adams hoped the latest Victorian Government cash injection, an extension of the higher level of Housing Establishment Fund (HEF) funding, would keep roofs over heads until long-term housing could be sourced.
“People experiencing homelessness — who have nowhere else to go but emergency accommodation — have a heightened health and safety risk not just from the virus but the onset of cold weather and the regular cold and flu season too,” she said.
“This funding is crucial so we can keep the most vulnerable people housed now while we support them into long-term housing.”
BeyondHousing saw a staggering surge in demand for crisis accommodation in April, with the organisation spending 70.8 per cent more HEF funding that month.
Demand stabilised at a "higher than average" rate during May and into early June as locals received the JobKeeper or additional JobSeeker payments.
“The additional HEF funding for the March, April and May periods was needed to not only support additional people and households experiencing homelessness, but to keep them safe in emergency accommodation for longer,” Ms Adams said.
BeyondHousing has also received funding to support a two-month contract position to auspice an additional staff member to the Hotel Emergency Accommodation Response Teams (HEART) across the Hume region.
This position will support both the collection of data and client co-ordination, which will help inform the Victorian Government’s housing and support planning into the future.
“It is vitally important we have a true snapshot of who we are supporting in crisis accommodation, how many people and what their needs are now and as we emerge from the crisis,” Ms Adams said.
“This role will analyse the different responses required to ensure the right plans are in place.”
This latest round of funding comes after the Victorian Government recently announced a $498 million injection into social housing as part of the state government's Building Works plan to kick-start the economy.
As part of this, the government has pledged to build 168 and upgrade 23 000 social housing units.
But Ms Adams said BeyondHousing was yet to hear whether Shepparton would benefit.
State Member for Shepparton Suzanna Sheed has also thrown her weight behind the cause, claiming the Federal Government's decision to remove JobKeeper and halve JobSeeker and other welfare payments come September was "extremely concerning".
Particularly as Shepparton reported the third highest rate of unemployment in the country for April.
“Considering we also have one of the highest rates of homelessness in regional Victoria, I share in sounding BeyondHousing’s warnings,” Ms Sheed said.
She said she had been in frequent contact with the office of Victorian Housing Minister Richard Wynne, pressuring for increased funding — particularly for the refurbishment of derelict social housing stock.
“A recent investigation by my office found a number of properties sitting idle, some for years,” she said.
“Emergency accommodation for homeless people during the coronavirus pandemic has reportedly proved highly effective in reconnecting these people with welfare services and starting them on a path to a better life.
“I hope we can learn from these lessons to create better ways of helping those experiencing homelessness during and after the pandemic crisis.”
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