By NATALIE GALLENTI
THE number of people on the public housing waiting list in the North West Metropolitan Region has remained relatively stable at almost 14,000.
The scale of Victoria’s public housing crisis was revealed after the Victorian Government published its figures for March 2013.
According to the latest statistics, the Sunshine office, which services the City of Melton, has the largest number of people waiting for a house in the region with 3823.
The region also includes Footscray, Ascot Vale and Broadmeadows.
The data revealed that 2733 people in the Sunshine area are waiting for housing, with 1090 people on the early housing wait list.
The Sunshine office has experienced a fall of 80 from the December figures.
In between January and March the Footscray office had a total of 1238 people on its waiting list.
Minister for Housing Wendy Lovell said the figures have remained relatively stable with a 1 per cent fall state-wide.
Ms Lovell said in the March quarter, the north-west region recorded a fall of 160 applications to 13,775 from 13,935 in the December quarter.
Upon releasing the figures, Ms Lovell said the Coalition Government would continue to work on a new framework to reduce the number of people on wait lists.
“We will do everything possible to address the issues and put public housing on a more sustainable footing,” Ms Lovell said.
“That is the only way to guarantee its existence in the future and make sure that those most in need will have help in the years to come.”
