Waiting times

The Office of Housing provides public rental housing to eligible Victorians in housing need.  We aim to prioritise people who are in urgent need because of homelessness or other critical circumstances.

All applications for public housing are divided into two segments: 

• Early housing, which is for people who are experiencing or at risk of recurring homelessness, people with a disability who have significant support needs, and people with special housing needs.
• Wait turn, which is for all eligible people on low incomes.   

Applications are also placed into bands based on location. 

Many factors influence the waiting time for each application. These include:

• households approved for early housing are assisted ahead of wait turn applicants
• the type of dwellings being sought in a given area
• how often vacancies arise in each location
• the availability of affordable alternatives in the private market in each location 

Public Housing waiting and transfer list

Correction

Incorrect data relating to the public housing waiting and transfer list for September 2009 was published on this website between Friday 6 November and Wednesday 11 November. This was due to a data processing error.

The error has been corrected and accurate data is now available below. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

The Total Number of Applicants on the Public Housing Waiting and Transfer List as at September 2009 (Excel Size 30.5KB, Pages 2) provides the most recent quarterly indicative waiting list statistics by area.  This includes people who are currently living in public housing but have applied to transfer to a new public property. 

Waiting list figures are estimates only. The figures can vary within a given quarter, depending on the number of people finding or applying for housing. The list may also include people who are in or have recently located suitable accommodation but not have yet notified the Office of Housing.  

Remember if you're on the housing waiting list and you've found suitable housing, let us know as soon as possible by contacting your local housing office.

Previous Public Housing waiting and transfer lists

 Public Housing Waiting and Transfer list (June 2009) (Excel Size 29.5KB, Pages 2)

Statewide Broadband information

You can see which suburbs are in each geographical band, and which Office of Housing office is responsible for each area, in the Statewide Broadbands documents.  

If you're a housing worker, you can use this information to help applicants to choose their preferred waiting list area. 

 Statewide Broadbands (by Broadband) (PDF Size 40KB, Pages 11) shows the suburbs in each broadband area. 

 Statewide broadbands (by suburb) PDF Size 44KB, Pages 11) lets you find out which broadband area a particular suburb is in.

 Statewide broadbands (by office) (PDF Size 40KB, Pages 11) lets you find out which areas are covered by each Office of Housing office.

Further Information

For more information on the Statewide waiting list, please contact the Policy Hotline on (03) 9096 8234, or email: policyhotline.housing@dhs.vic.gov.au