The Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing, Martin Foley announced the upgrade to the Virginia Hill estate, which will improve public spaces and provide better connections to the surrounding neighbourhood.

Foley said the cash boost to the Virginia Hill estate will improve the standards of living.

“We are ensuring regional public housing provides residents with safe, modern homes – and the improvement of the Virginia Hill estate will deliver better living and community spaces for local tenants.

“We are looking forward to working with the City of Bendigo and the local community to deliver better public housing for Bendigo," he said.

As most of the housing in Virginia Hill estate was built in the 1980's and hasn't seen an upgrade since, it is old and rundown. The upgrade will replace these ageing residences with more modern and environmentally-friendly housing, to supply the local demand for more affordable housing.

Member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan, says, “By redeveloping our rundown public housing, we’re ensuring more Victorians have the modern, accessible and secure homes they deserve.”

The improvement of the estate is all part of a $30 million Labor Government boost to regional public housing. The Government is working closely with the City of Bendigo, the local community and tenants to design and deliver the project, which will begin development in 2019.

Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards says, “We’re listening to public housing tenants and the local community so we can build the kind of communities they are proud to live in.”

The cash boost couldn't have come at a better time - there are currently more than 1,394 applications on the Victorian housing reigister waiting list for the Loddon region, just outside Bendigo, but this number doesn't reflect how many people there are behind each application.

Haven; Home, Safe chief executive officer Ken Marchingo recently said the problem of inadequate housing stock was not going away.

“We have seen some (government) talking, now we’re waiting to see when the rubber hits the road,” he said.

Executive Officer Victorian Public Tenants Association Mark Feenane said this cash boost will have a huge impact on those who need it most.

“Years of neglect has left too many public housing properties in desperate need of repair. Upgrading these residences with modern homes will mean a lot to the tenants living on the Virginia Hill Estate. We hope that tenants are at the heart of the decision-making about their estate," Feenane said.

The Department of Health and Human Services will provide support, assistance and advice to all tenants affected by the project.

The Labor Government has now invested more than $1 billion in housing and homelessness support to intervene early, get those at risk of homelessness housed quickly, and help them maintain that housing.

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