Federal housing investment to deliver 120 new affordable homes in Bendigo

Bendigo will receive 120 new affordable and social housing dwellings under the federal Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord programs, with construction beginning on three separate projects that target the city's most pressing housing need groups — key workers, older women at risk of homelessness, and families on social housing waitlists.

The projects, delivered in partnership with two community housing providers and the City of Greater Bendigo, are located in the Kangaroo Flat, Strathdale, and Long Gully precincts — areas identified by the council as having the highest concentrations of housing stress and the greatest need for affordable supply close to services and public transport.

Federal Housing Minister Julie Collins said Bendigo's strong population growth had generated significant housing affordability pressure that the private market alone would not resolve. "Without programs like this, the people who teach our children, care for our elderly, and serve our community cannot afford to live in the communities they serve," she said.

The key worker housing component — 40 of the 120 dwellings — will be offered at rents of approximately 80 per cent of market, targeting nurses, teachers, and social workers earning incomes too high for social housing but insufficient for the private rental market at its current pricing. Grampians Health and Bendigo Health have both expressed interest in nominating staff for the key worker allocation.

The projects are expected to be tenanted within 18 months, with a further round of HAFF applications expected to deliver additional supply in subsequent years.

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