As many in Casey faces a major housing and homelessness crisis, the council has voted in favour of developing a new Affordable Housing Policy, that would see to expand funding for housing as well as the repurposing of council and state-owned land.
Voted in unanimously on Tuesday night at the council’s first meeting for 2026, the plan of action endeavours to adapt stronger measures for accessible and affordable housing.
Following a council report, major drivers of the housing crisis in the area can be attributed to sharp increases in house prices, rents, interest rates and overall living costs.
The report explored a range of options under three broad categories: advocacy, facilitation and partnership, where the council is expected to strengthen calls for increased state investment in social and affordable housing, including greater use of state-owned and council owned land.
Advocacy priorities will include increased funding for crisis accommodation and adapting to a ‘Housing First’ framework, which would prioritise immediate access to permanent housing, followed by voluntary, person-centred support services such as mental health and drug and alcohol assistance, which will focus on long-term solutions.
The report also highlighted how land owned by council, vacant sites and underutilised buildings could potentially be leased, sold at reduced cost, or donated to community housing providers for affordable or social housing projects.
The discussion follows a notice of motion by River Gum councillor Lynette Pereira at the 2025 December council meeting who moved to commission a detailed report into practical solutions of how the council can address the growing shortage of crisis and affordable housing across the municipality.
At the council meeting, Cr Lynette Pereira said that the rise in homelessness in Casey is a “huge problem” and that she hopes to see the council implement sufficient measures to grapple with it.
“We’re talking about thousands (housing), we needs thousands,” she said.
“I think this is a huge problem, we need to keep front and centre of everything we’re doing and I want to make sure at the end of our council term, with some really good advocacy, that we actually see some tangible results.”
According to the report, between June 2020 and June 2025 median house prices rose by 26 per cent, unit prices increased by 32 per cent while the median rent surged by up to 40 per cent.
In 2021 following the census, an estimated 7,421 households in Casey required affordable housing, a significant increase from 5,655 households in 2016.
Affordable housing availability has also declined sharply.
By June 2025, only 4.1 per cent of property sales in Casey were affordable for low-income households, and less than 1 per cent were affordable for very low-income households.
Rental affordability has also tightened, with affordable rental availability for low-income households dropping from 90 per cent in 2020 to just 32 per cent in 2025.
A 2022 needs assessment identified a shortfall of 2,490 social housing dwellings in Casey, a figure projected to rise to 5,000 by 2041 if no further action is taken.
