Melbourne, Australia, Feb 4, 2008 / 16:31 pm
In an effort to alleviate housing problems in the Australian southeast state of Victoria, Catholic and other church charities are seeking approval to become developers and operate housing associations, The Age reports.
The charities say that they want to use prime real estate that they own to develop affordable rental homes for the needy. Up to 300,000 Australians are at risk of losing their homes this year by defaulting on their mortgages. 750,000 households are estimated to struggle to pay food and essential service bills.
Martin North, an analyst with Fujitsu Consulting, linked the housing problems to an expected interest rate increase at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
"This is a problem that is now hitting middle Australia … Rates will go up by another 0.5% to 1% over the year, so people who are in an already fragile position are going to be hard-hit," he said, according to The Age.