The impact of private sector provision of housing for older people

An accepted philosophy of community based housing groups for many years in Victoria has been that affordable housing is a right not a privilege. The two main aspects of this right are the provision of housing that is low cost and that also offers long-term security of tenure. Additionally, there was once a belief that government is best placed to be the main provider of affordable housing. A national, and even global, move to right-wing politics over the last twenty years has seen the rapid withdrawal of funding for public housing construction by the Federal Government, and has left public housing in Victoria at a position of zero growth with the private sector expected to take responsibility to fill the void.