Home - Homes Victoria logo

Need urgent housing?

Quick exit
Quick exit

If you are in immediate danger Call 000.

Are you homeless or at risk of homelessness?
Free 24 hour phone line. Someone will take your call to get you help nearby. If after hours, they will refer you to the Salvation Army Crisis Services.
Are you escaping family violence?
Free 24 hour phone line. Someone will take your call from Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre.

The Social Housing Growth Fund was established in 2018 to grow new social housing in Victoria.

The fund was developed as a collaboration between government, private and philanthropic sectors and provides an ongoing mechanism for eligible Community Housing Agencies (CHAs) to deliver more social housing for Victorians in need of housing support. This includes adults and children escaping family violence, older women, Aboriginal Victorians, people with disabilities, and those experiencing mental illness. 

The fund is jointly administered by the Minister for Housing and the Treasurer.

In the 2020-21 State Budget, the Victorian Government invested $5.3 billion in social and affordable housing as part of the Big Housing Build (BHB). This, then, record-breaking investment included $1.38 billion for the Social Housing Growth Fund to provide grants to the community housing sector to grow the supply of social housing across Victoria. 

Across multiple rounds, the fund aims to deliver investment in new social housing homes to provide long-term housing for Victorians on the Victorian Housing Register.

Current Homes Victoria programs:

  • Build and Operate Program Round 1
  • New Rental Development Program
  • Regional Round
  • Rapid Grants Round
  • Homes for Aboriginal Victorians Round
  • Mental Health Supported Housing Round
  • Build and Operate Program Round 2.

Regional Round

The Regional Round provides funding for the delivery of new social projects in regional Victoria to be managed by Community Housing Agencies.

Announced in late 2022, the Regional Round includes 46 projects, delivering up to 683 new homes with a government contribution of $219 million and creating close to 2,600 regional jobs. The projects and the number of homes to be built are subject to planning approvals.

LGA Commissioned number of homes* Number of jobs created Government funding ($)
Ararat 9 34 $3.0 million
Ballarat 44 169 $11.2 million
Bass Coast 18 43 $3.6 million
Baw Baw 56 241 $24.1 million
Corangamite 6 21 $1.7 million
Golden Plains 10 33 $3.0 million
Greater Bendigo 130 516 $40.4 million
Greater Geelong 84 329 $24.6 million
Greater Shepparton 70 265 $23.9 million
Hepburn 4 11 $900,000
Horsham 14 52 $4.9 million
Latrobe 23 82 $7.8 million
Macedon Ranges 12 54 $5.0 million
Mildura 68 234 $21.3 million
Mitchell 10 33 $3.0 million
Moorabool 33 138 $12.1 million
Swan Hill 13 46 $3.9 million
Wangaratta 66 243 $20.6 million
Wodonga 13 46 $3.8 million
Total 683 2,590 $219 million

*Up to 683 homes have been commissioned. Number of homes are subject to planning approvals.

Rapid Grants Round

The Rapid Grants Round is the first round of grant funding under the SHGF BHB funding and provides grants to Community Housing Agencies for ‘shovel-ready’ development and construction projects for new social housing.

The Rapid Grants round includes 80 projects, delivering over 2400 homes, with a total value of over $1 billion and creating close to 10,000 jobs for Victorians.

Region Number of homes Number of jobs created Government Funding ($)
Metro 1,891 8,238 $677 million
Regional 581 1,757 $142 million
Total 2,472 9,995 $819 million

Pre-Big Housing Build initial funding package

Build and Operate Program Round 1

The Build and Operate Program (BOP) focuses on constructing new social and affordable homes.
BOP Round 1 will deliver more than 780 new social housing homes across 24 locations in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

New Rental Development Program

The New Rental Developments Program provides funding to lease new homes from the private sector or acquire newly constructed or homes under construction to use as social housing.

The program will deliver 457 rental homes which will be managed by experienced housing agencies, increase the availability of social housing rental stock and facilitate investment in new social housing for the rental market.

Current programs

Homes for Aboriginal Victorians

Grants to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations for new social housing located across Victoria.

Mental Health Supported Housing Round 2

Grants to community housing agencies to deliver and operate new long-term social housing across Victoria. 

The new homes will be used as supported housing in accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. The housing and support model has been informed by the outcomes of a co-design project which involved people with a lived experience of mental illness.

Build and Operate Program — Round 2

Homes Victoria has launched the second round of the Social Housing Growth Fund — Build and Operate Program. This will provide funding for community housing organisations to build and operate new social housing developments.