In your Town
Community Housing at Hyde Retirement Village
The Town of Bassendean joined forces with Connect Victoria Park to provide low-cost housing opportunities for over 60s at the Hyde Retirement Village.
Nine units in the Village were made available to applicants who have struggled to secure housing amidst the current rental crisis, with priority given to low-income single women over 60 and those who have already resided in Bassendean.
This follows a decision by the Town of Bassendean Council late last year to complement the current lease-for-life arrangements at the Village with Community Housing as a way to contribute local solutions to the housing crisis.
Town of Bassendean Mayor Kathryn Hamilton said, “The housing crisis throughout Australia is well known. Single and older women are overrepresented amongst the asset poor and are one of the fastest growing groups of homeless people nationally. Western Australia, and Perth specifically, is no different, with many reports readily available quoting high numbers of older women who are at risk of homelessness in Perth and large waiting lists for social housing. With nine units currently available, this partnership between the Town of Bassendean and Connect is an important local initiative to do what we can, as a small local government, to assist in the provision of housing that is affordable for older people”.
Connect has provided Community Housing for older people in Victoria Park for over 60 years. They also operate the first Village Hub in Western Australia, nurturing a community of people over 55 who come together to support each other in ageing well and living independently for as long as possible. Currently, Connect owns and manages 70 units and 4 retirement villas in Vic Park, while the Village Hub facilitates activities and services for over 300 members.
“Connect’s interest in managing the vacant tenancies at HRV is driven by our desire to play a part in addressing the housing crisis impacting older people”, said Connect’s CEO, Luke Garswood. “We know from experience the value of a safe and secure home for older people. We know many older people seeking community housing have paid rent all their lives and find they can’t keep up with rent payments when they retire due to ill health or age. Sometimes people have retired with a large mortgage, or divorced and have little left to start again. Often people find themselves couch surfing or incredibly stressed as they worry over how to pay the next lot of rent or how to cope with the next increase”.
For more information, go to the Town’s website link below, or Connect’s website at www.connectvictoriapark.org.
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