mmg.com.au

Public housing waiting lists have risen 0.7 per cent in the Shepparton area and 1.1per cent across the region.

Shepparton is in the Hume Office of Housing region, which also includes Benalla, Seymour, Wangaratta and Wodonga.

In Benalla there was a rise of one per cent while in Seymour the number of applicants on the waiting list fell 2.2 per cent.

The December quarterly report, released on Friday, showed 585 people were on Greater Shepparton’s public housing waiting list and a further 138 were on the transfer list.

The transfer list is made up of people who are in public housing but are waiting to be moved to another home.

Statewide the total number of applicants for the December 2011 quarter fell 0.6 per cent from 38806 to 38566.

‘‘It’s pleasing they’ve gone down on the statewide basis, but disappointing we’ve had a small rise in Shepparton,’’ Housing Minister Wendy Lovell said.

Ms Lovell said one of the major factors contributing to the rise was the waiting time in country areas was significantly less than in Melbourne, so city people were putting in for regional houses.

Also contributing to the rise, Ms Lovell said, was job losses putting pressure on the private rental market meaning people were turning to public housing as an option.

‘‘Obviously we’ve had significant job losses here with SPC and Girgarre and you’re in the private rental market and suddenly you’re unemployed... you’re at risk of defaulting rental payments,’’ she said.

She said floods had also put pressure on the public housing system in northern Victoria in the past 12 months with the closure of caravan parks and properties not coming back on the market after flood damage.

Ms Lovell said 77 new public houses had been allocated to the Hume region, including 44 in Shepparton, and 104 properties were being renovated for use in the district.

She said Planning Minister Matthew Guy had released land for development in parts of Victoria with the aim of assisting housing affordability.

For more information on waiting lists, visit www.dhs.vic.gov.au