By ALESHA CAPONE
BRIMBANK City Council has investigated 60 alleged unregistered rooming houses in the past 12 months.
A council spokeswoman said the majority of tip-offs about illegal boarding houses came from St Albans, Sunshine and Sunshine North.
Rooming houses, which are legally required to register with municipal councils, are defined as homes with individual bedrooms and a kitchen and bathroom shared by four or more unrelated people.
The State Government recently announced the launch of a Victorian rooming house register.
Brimbank City Council has 19 registered rooming houses on its books, but advocates say the industry remained rife with unregistered and poorly maintained properties.
Tenants Union of Victoria (TUV) CEO, Mark O’Brien, said the state-wide rooming house register was a “very important step forward” but more measures were needed to deal with “rogue operators”.
“What’s really needed is a licensing or operational system to hold them to account for poor practices or sub-standard living conditions,” he said.
“Rooming houses are often dirty and dangerous places to live, and no-one would want to live there if they had another option.
“Many people have told us it would be safer to live in jail than in a rooming house.”
Mr O’Brien said the inner West remained home to many rooming houses.
“But there is also a fair amount further out in Sunshine, Albion, St Albans, Hoppers Crossing and Altona, there are a few out there – anywhere there is a stock of older housing, is where you find rooming houses,” he said.
Council to Homeless Persons (COP) CEO, Jenny Smith, said most people moved into rooming houses “as a last resort” if they could not afford private rentals or were among the 30,000 Victorians on the social housing waiting list.
“We’re certainly seeing many families living in rooming houses, which is not ideal,” she said.
“There would be many families with babies and young children in rooming houses.
“Also young people who cannot live with their families for whatever reason, often sharing rooms with other young people whom they may or may not know.”
For advice, contact COP on http://chp.org.au or 1800 825 955, and the TUV on www.tuv.org.au or 9416 2577.
