There are two key State government strategies, Homes for Victorians: Affordability, access and choice, and the metropolitan planning strategy Plan Melbourne 2017-2050 that recognize the critical need to increase the supply of social and affordable housing across Victoria. At the time of preparing this Background Report, the Victorian Government announced a $5.3 billion investment in social and affordable housing to deliver more than 12,000 new homes throughout Metropolitan Melbourne and Regional Victoria. The Big Housing Build is Victoria’s landmark investment in social and affordable housing, delivering 9,300 new social housing homes and 2,900 new affordable and low-cost homes for key workers.

Council’s past approach to delivering additional social and affordable housing has been identified in the Council Plan 2017-2021, the Community Plan 2025, and the Bayside Housing Strategy 2019, and the primary approach to achieving these outcomes has been through implementing Council’s Improving Housing Affordability and Social Housing Options in Bayside: Advocacy Action Plan, June 2018.