Introduction
In Australia, crime rates have been on the rise in public housing. This has been attributed to the poor social and physical environments in the areas of residence. There is much carelessness and irresponsibility in the handling of amenities and property. On the other hand, The Australian Habitat for Humanity has been providing cheaper houses to low-income earners. There is limited crime amongst the beneficiaries of this project. This paper is going to report on the situation of housing in Australia. It will give a brief description of both public and homeownership projects by Habitat for Humanity, then look into the crime issues in both before showing the benefits of the homeownership project to the government, society, and to single families. A conclusion will then be made based on the discussion.
Public housing
Australian public housing involves the ownership of housing property such as the houses and the accompanying amenities by the government through the Department of state and department of territory government which is the two authorities in charge of this exercise. Most people in Australia are poor and cannot afford to build their own homes and meet their daily basic needs for survival. The Australian government has responded to this by launching the above-mentioned agencies and put them in charge of housing. Through the use of funds obtained mainly from government revenues and allocation from the federal government, the government has set up several housing projects in the suburban areas where the low-class citizens reside. So far, about 300 000 public housing dwellings have been put on in the master-planned estates both in the suburbs and intercity apartments in Sydney and Melbourne (NSW Housing 74). The purpose of this housing program is to provide welfare benefits of improving living places mainly the poor, low-income earners, those receiving social security, the elderly people, those with disabilities, and other forms of special needs. The government has planned to achieve its social goal by either building the houses and give them for free to those established to be at the lowest end of the poverty index or by building the houses and subsidize the rent rates so that the citizens who are still struggling to start up their lives but at least have a means of economic survival can access the houses. It is the public housing issue of safety and security that has raised many concerns among most Australians People have moved to safer places like the socially supported housing project by Habitat for Humanity described below or those capable have constructed their own homes or have bought in safer areas of town and suburbs. Public housing remains to be stigmatized by the majority of well up Australians chiefly because of its status as a tenure system for the minority or for those in lower socioeconomic status and the purported insecurity compared to the neighborhood housing tenures which are dominated by private ownership and the economically rich families (NSW Police 24).
The Habitat for Humanity project Described
The Habitat for Humanity housing project in Australia is an affiliate of a global project for housing called The Habitat for Humanity International. In Australia, Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit making organization that partners with locals who are earning low incomes to build simple and affordable houses for them. It is prudent to initially understand that the Habitat for Humanity is not out to assist those in absolute poverty, the jobless, or those who can not raise income on their own but it seeks to assist those who have a means of survival but is strained by rent among other factors. This is where the key insecurity issues emerge as compared to the free houses for the very poor and needy in the government-funded housing programs. To ensure Australians have access to quality living houses as a means of addressing the basic human needs as depicted in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Habitat for Humanity has and is seeking for people who have been caught up in poverty that has been perceived to have been caused by higher and higher rent rates despite their low salaries. The underprivileged are identified based on need. They are then introduced to no-interest mortgages with Habitat. To built homes, the identified people should contribute at least 500 labor hours as ‘sweat equity to build their own homes or to build homes for another family. The Habitat for Humanity finds a suitable site at low costs, puts on a decent house at the lowest cost possible, and gives it to the identified low-income earner to live with his or her family. These houses are built in safe environments, better society, and better opportunities. The houses are built without adding any profits for the invested resources and no interest is charged to the money used to build the house. When it comes to repaying, the family repays the exact money used in the building. One of the main sources of funds for the Habitat for Humanity housing project is from the small repayment installments obtained from homeowners in the programs. However, more funds are raised through donations from good wishers, noninterest loans from those who support the project, and also fundraising functions. The funds raised this way are used to build more houses thus making the fund revolve indefinitely and hence the sustainability of the Habitat for Humanity housing project. Most of the projects have been established in NSW, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, and Queensland (Newman 217).
Crime rates in public housing
Public housing schemes by the government have been associated with a lot of insecurity and crimes by people who live in their neighborhoods. Several types of research have been conducted to establish the state of criminology and crime-related activities occurring in the public housing as compared to the Habitat for Humanity housing project. There has been an increase in the rate of crimes in these public housing programs. The crimes range from an assault of residents by rogue criminals, damage of personal and public property maliciously, car hijacking and motor vehicle theft, break – and – enter in the resident’s houses, and other forms of robberies. Data collected from various social research and statistics bureaus revealed that criminology was more pronounced in these schemes (NSW Housing 53). The main causes of the criminal activities ranged from aboriginality of the Australians in those suburbs, low or no incomes for the dwellers, people with low levels of education, challenges of social structures of the communities like single-parent families, high unemployment rates especially among the poor youth and other factors (Anne 307). Life is a big challenge in areas where the poor live with their fellow poor people. Among the poor, no one can assist the other financially and when hungry youth meet, they are likely to engage in crime as a means of survival. The young ladies also need money to cater for their daily needs and when they do not have jobs or at least low income-generating activities so that they may benefit from the Habitat for Humanity housing project, they turn to prostitution to earn a living. Poverty is a prerequisite of moral sickness of society, and this is what has led to the social crimes among the populations living in these free or rent-assisted housing schemes (Samuels 144). However, most of the crimes are not extreme because there is no such property to be stolen from the poor. In other words, there are no incentives for thieves to steal from within. More serious crimes are committed in the high-class residential estates, but the criminals come from the housing schemes for the poor.
Benefits to families
The aim of the Habitat for Humanity housing project has been to benefit families with low incomes by lessening the burdens of high costs of house rents that have for a long time strained their savings and deliberate efforts to acquire homes. First, the greatest benefit each family that has acquired a home by this means has confessed is the ability to stay in a conducive environment and safe place of their dream (Anta 178). They have been uplifted from poor environments and evil or socially sick communities and now stay with civilized communities. This is a relief because most parents did not know what to do to ensure their children grow up responsibly without the bad influence of their peers in the public housing schemes. The houses are an improvement to their previous shelter. Now the shelter is more protective and most important, it is permanent. A housing scheme comes along with the necessary amenities for the better survival of humanity (Sarkissian 153). These amenities include cheap access to clean and safe drinking water for the family. This is a benefit to the families because according to world records, it has been established that despite their socio-economic situation, the poor people in Australia as well as in other parts of the world are incurring more than double the per capita cost of buying water compared to the rich (Wilson 180). This is because the water units for the poor are in terms of plastic containers with the exploitation of middle water dealers while the rich have a direct connection of pipes into their houses. The families which have benefited from this project have safely been relieved from these high costs of living. In the long run, families can have their legally possessed homes through these small installments paying. Owning homes gives the families a morale boost and a sense of self-confidence. They have a feeling of belonging to the middle class of living. When considering the future, the families are stable because the expenditure for rent is diverted to other useful needs such as clothing, medical care, education for their children, and therefore a general improvement of living. Each family receives a loan that does not accrue interest to build their homes. This is like a gift to the families because since the money they are revolving, their children when they grow up and want independent houses will join the programs and the money that was repaid by their parents will be used to construct their houses and the process continues this way, up to infinity (Bell 325).
Benefits to society
The greatest benefit of this housing project in Australia is for the benefit of society, now and in the future. First, it has put into consideration the issue of the future generation. Through this project, our children are assured a low-cost means to acquire nice houses. The economic activities of this project have had a direct impact on the economic status of society. To build a house, some materials are required like cement, roofing timber, iron sheets or tiles, nails, building blocks, pipes among others. These materials and other requirements are purchased from the local markets and this is a boost to their businesses. Second, the contractors or builders of these houses as well as fitters of pipes and wiring are picked from the experts within the society. This is a direct means of creating jobs for the members of the society who have technical knowledge. On the same note, the country office in Australia has management employees who have come from the Australian society. The houses are built on plots that are bought from people in the Australian suburbs. Through the project, the market has been generated for the land resources and this is a means of income for the residents. Since the building technologies adopted in the project are aimed at ensuring modern living conditions for those who buy the mortgages, the accompanying social amenities such as water, electricity, communication lines among other services are made available to the owners of the houses. Those living in the neighborhood find it easier and cheaper to pay for the installation of those facilities from these schemes as compared to if they were to pay for connection from far distances. This has enabled many families to afford the connection fees because the distances have been shortened. Modern living will also necessitate the construction of access roads to regions that have been identified as sites for the projects. This has led to the opening up of the regions and making transport easier even for the rest of nearby communities who are not in the program. The scheme considers availing of social amenities like health services and schools to the residents of the built houses. The sustainability of good living conditions for the community in the future is assured by the cyclic nature of the project (AIC 51). Now and in the future, anybody who will be willing to buy the cheap mortgages will automatically benefit by getting the cheap houses.
One of the requirements for the development of the houses is the willingness of the families involved to provide free labor for about 500 work hours. This work involves the youth and other volunteers. Unlike in the government housing schemes, the youth here are made busy by participating in various construction activities. The families are involved in the building process and this gives them a sense of owning the houses. By doing this, minimal vandalization of infrastructure has been reported. The work in construction involves hand- on practice Although most Australians have not been able to comprehend this, the project has played a major role in developing essential skills for the residents involved. Activities like fundraising which are done have sharpened the people’s skills in fundraising practices, public presentation, participatory project planning, implementation and development, monitoring and evaluation as well as skills in goal setting group participation, and teamwork. Society has also felt a decrease in crime rate through the introduction of this housing project because the setup is civilized and the environment for the growth of their children is conducive (Maguire 40).
Benefits to the Australian government
The Australian government has also reaped several benefits from the Australian Habitat for Humanity housing project. The government is entitled to ensure security and check criminology in Australian society (Fuller 215). The criminology among residents of government housing schemes is complicated and is rooted in their living conditions. The introduction of cheap mortgage housing has relieved the government of the extra cost it would have incurred in addressing the criminology in these schemes. This is because civilized housing for the low-income people has led to leaving of the poor and immorally influencing the environment in the government houses. The new employments for people in the project his a government’s source of income through the taxes deducted from their salaries (Gearson 118). It has also relieved the government of the task of creating jobs for the people employed in the project. The government has the responsibility of ensuring national unity for its citizens. This project has brought national cohesion among the Australian citizens because those buying the mortgages are from different cultural backgrounds. Through this possibility, it is likely that people from different corners of the country have become neighbors in the houses or are workmates in the project.
Conclusion
Crime rise in the public housing sector is mainly due to the social status of the people. Habitat for Humanity has stepped in to solve the problem of poor housing in Australia. There have been reduced crime cases among people covered by this project. The benefits of the project have cut across the families, societies, and government. It has led to improved standards of living, more economic growth, and revenues for the government.
Works Cited
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