The Make Room project will provide supported accommodation for up to 12 months for people experiencing rough sleeping and long-term homelessness in the City of Melbourne.

It is a unique partnership between the City of Melbourne, the Victorian Government and key philanthropic organisations.

The City of Melbourne has contributed a Council-owned building at 602 Little Bourke Street, valued at $12 million.

Unison Housing will refurbish and manage the property, converting it into supported accommodation for up to 50 people who are experiencing rough sleeping and long-term homelessness.

The building will offer up to 50 studio apartments alongside communal living areas, housing and homelessness services, a social enterprise and wraparound support for residents.

This is the first step in a pathway focused housing model, designed to support, prepare and transition people into sustainable long-term housing.

Reducing homelessness is a priority for the City of Melbourne. We want to get people off the streets and into safe and supported accommodation with wrap around support until they are offered or ready for longer term housing.

Before COVID-19, more than 300 people were sleeping rough in the central city every night.

During the pandemic, the Victorian Government with the support of homelessness agencies provided emergency hotel accommodation for people who had been sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness. The Victorian Government has now begun supporting people to transition out of hotel accommodation into other forms of housing.

However, the shortage of suitable accommodation options and supported housing pathways means that some people who were accommodated in hotels have now returned to rough sleeping.

Without a continued supply of secure housing options in inner Melbourne, people will continue to end up sleeping on our streets.

Make Room will provide secure accommodation in studio apartments and specialist support services for up to 50 people for up to 12 months, or until they are offered longer term housing.

The planned development at 602 Little Bourke Street is not a drop-in centre, but a purpose-built supported accommodation service, specially designed to provide tenants with a safe and supported place to live, with the onsite wrap-around support needed to help them access long-term housing, employment, and better social and health outcomes.

The onsite accommodation support will provide flexible and coordinated case management support to ensure that every resident has a tailored, client directed care plan which incorporates access to the health and support services they need. This will provide them with the best opportunity to successfully transition into secure and stable long term accommodation within twelve months.

By providing long-term case management, we can help break the cycle of homelessness and help people get their lives back on track.

Once the building is operational, a 24 hour, 7 day a week front desk concierge/security will be in place with an emphasis on safety and security for residents, visitors and neighbours.

The six storey Council-owned building at 602 Little Bourke Street is currently vacant and is ideally located in the central city area where there are existing services and public transport. It allows those who have been sleeping rough in the city to continue to access established support and social networks and therefore have a better chance of successfully remaining in supported accommodation and exiting homelessness in permanent housing.

The building will be refurbished and converted into safe, modern and practical spaces – self-contained studio apartments – for people to live. A ground floor, with an activated community space will include a social enterprise. The activation of the street frontage will foster community belonging and enhance safety and security.

Council has donated the building worth $12 million.

The Make Room project – converting 602 Little Bourke Street into secure supported accommodation – will cost approximately $20 million.

This is an ambitious, innovative project – and we can’t do it alone. Many levels of Government, corporate, business, community, charities, philanthropists and funding organisations have come together to deliver Make Room and tackle homelessness.

We are working with the Victorian Government and a range of partners, including philanthropists and corporates to fund and deliver this project. In addition ongoing individual case management will be provided to support these vulnerable people and break the cycle of rough sleeping and homelessness and help people get their lives back on track.

The Victorian Government has committed $9 million to Make Room.

We have also received several million dollars funding from philanthropic organisations, including The Ian Potter Foundation, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Gandel Foundation, Buckland Foundation and Helen MacPherson Smith Trust.

Community members can also donate to Make Room through the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation.

We have appointed a registered housing provider, Unison Housing, and signed an Agreement for Lease with them in May 2022.

Unison Housing will appoint the builder and architect in mid-2022.

A detailed building works plan and construction timelines will be released in mid-2022

Building refurbishment works are expected to start in late 2022.

Make Room will support people who are experiencing homelessness, and who are sleeping rough in the municipality of Melbourne.

Specialist staff located onsite will provide tenancy management alongside specialist health, housing and related support.

Before COVID-19, more than 300 people were sleeping rough in the central city every night.

Without a continued supply of secure housing options in inner Melbourne, people will continue to end up sleeping on our streets.

The Make Room project will help break the cycle of sustained homelessness by providing secure accommodation and specialist support services for people for up to 12 months, or less if they are offered longer term housing. Importantly Make Room will provide a tangible pathway to transition from sleeping rough into long term housing.

The refurbishment process is likely to cause additional noise from construction machinery during work hours, construction crews on site and local traffic changes. If your home or business is in the immediate vicinity of the building, Unison Housing will notify you in advance of work starting and provide you with regular progress updates.

Once the building is operational, a 24-hour, seven day a week front desk concierge/security will be in place with an emphasis on safety, security and quiet enjoyment of residents, visitors and neighbours – including proactive management of anti-social behaviour.

We have strong proactive engagement with Victoria Police to ensure that the neighbourhood is safe for everyone, and our cleaning teams will ensure that the streets and surrounding areas are kept clean.

The operating model is based on proven, transitional accommodation and supported housing sites including VincentCare’s Ozanam House in North Melbourne, Unison Housing’s Common Ground in West Melbourne, and Launch Housing’s Southbank Crisis Accommodation at Haig Street South Melbourne. The model will be underpinned by a trauma informed, therapeutic model of care and will directly intersect with the three existing Congregate Crisis Supported Accommodation (CSA) services located in the central city.

If you have concerns about the welfare of someone who is experiencing homelessness, if a person is an immediate risk to themselves or others, or appears to be under the age of 18, contact the police on 000.

Let us know of any welfare concerns, or if you see any accumulated items in public spaces, and we’ll get our Daily Support Team to assist (see the Are you concerned? box at the bottom of the page).

Once the building is operational, a 24 hour, 7 day a week front desk concierge/security will be in place with an emphasis on safety, security and quiet enjoyment of residents, visitors and neighbours – including proactive management of anti-social behaviour.

We work closely with Victoria Police to ensure all City of Melbourne neighbourhoods are safe for everyone.

We recognise that neighbours and businesses near any new supported accommodation will have lots of questions and will want to know more about how we will support them to welcome this important initiative. We will work closely with those neighbours and businesses in the coming months to address safety and security concerns.

Let us know of any welfare concerns, or if you see any accumulated items in public spaces, and we’ll get our Daily Support Team to assist (select the Are you concerned? box at the bottom of this page).

Economic recovery is about supporting all people in our community. Access to quality housing is critical for Melbourne’s liveability and economy.

Our research shows that for every $1 invested in affordable housing, there is a $3 benefit to the community due to worker retention, educational benefits, enhanced human capital, health cost savings, reduced family violence and crime. It is an investment in both essential infrastructure and people.

In addition to helping our community’s most vulnerable members, the project will create more than 70 jobs in construction, and dozens of ongoing clinical jobs as well as cleaning and maintenance roles, when the accommodation is open.

If you have a question about the project, you can send it to us via the Make Room homepage. We are continually updating our FAQs to make sure we include the most relevant information.

You can email us at Make Room: MakeRoom@melbourne.vic.gov.au

• If a person who is experiencing homelessness is an immediate risk to themselves or others, or appear to be under the age of 18, contact the police on 000.
• Let us know if you are concerned about the welfare of someone who is sleeping rough, or if you see any accumulated items in public spaces, and we’ll get our Daily Support Team to assist (see the Are you concerned? box at the bottom of the page).
• Every Melburnian can help us make a difference. Go to our website and leave your details to be part of it.
• Find out more about the Make Room Project.

We engaged community, local businesses, building owners and residents about Make Room in July and August 2021. We shared key details of the project with the public. People could also attend a community meeting or ask questions through Participate Melbourne.

Engagement outcomes:

• 13,000+ letters were sent to residents and businesses within a 200m radius informing them about Make Room.
• The consultation received 4,085 page visitors, 48 new project page followers,
• 9 participants at community meetings
• 113 Participate Melbourne submissions.

Find out more about what we heard on the community consultation page.

Make Room complements our ongoing work on the streets of the CBD, with the help and support of the hard working non-profit organisations and service providers who provide the daily critical care so many depend on.

You can find out more about homelessness by visiting our website

As a liveable city every Melburnian deserves access to safe and affordable housing. Affordable housing is vital to protect the liveability of our city. It supports the diversity of our community and the productivity of our economy.

Find out more about our Affordable Housing Strategy.

In our city, people are experiencing many types of housing stress, from rough sleeping to severely overcrowded accommodation to rental stress and being forced out of the municipality.

Before COVID-19, more than 300 people were sleeping rough in the central city every night. This visible homelessness, people sleeping on the streets, is just the tip of the iceberg in our homelessness crisis.

Many more women, children and families are part of the hidden homelessness problem - sleeping in their cars, on other people’s couches and in severely overcrowded or temporary accommodation.

The leading causes of homelessness are poverty and the lack of affordable housing, driven by family violence, rent stress, poor health and job insecurity.

In Victoria, for every person sleeping on the street, there are another 21 people experiencing homelessness. In our municipality, homelessness rates have soared over the past ten years. In the 2018 census, 1,725 people were recorded as homeless in the City of Melbourne.

Approximately 6,000 affordable rental homes are needed to meet the current demand in the City of Melbourne. If we do nothing, this will quadruple to more than 23,000 by 2036.

After decades of under-investment in social and affordable housing combined with a growing population, rising housing costs and the COVID-19 pandemic, there are not enough affordable homes for people to live.

You can find out more about homelessness by visiting our website.

Find out more about our Affordable Housing Strategy.

We know that Melburnians want action to support people in our community who are sleeping rough. Many people sleeping rough gather in and have a strong sense of belonging and connection to the city, which is why we need to deliver services where they can be easily accessed.

The building at 602 Little Bourke St represents the best opportunity to create secure, supported accommodation for people who are experiencing homelessness. It has 650sq of space over seven levels. It is currently vacant and is ideally located in the central city area near existing services and public transport. As well as being the right thing to do for our most vulnerable, providing nearby housing to people sleeping on inner-city streets will improve the amenity of the area for visitors, workers and residents.

We recognise that neighbours and businesses near any new supported accommodation will have lots of questions. We are working with neighbours and businesses to address concerns and ensure this important initiative is a great addition to the local neighbourhood.

People will be supported at 602 Little Bourke Street for up to one year, or until long term housing is sourced - helping to prevent a return to sleeping on the streets.

Make Room will offer intensive case management to assist in transition into long term social and community housing. By working closely with the Victorian Government and other registered Housing Associations, Make Room will support pathways into:

• Social housing
• Community housing
• Supported housing
• Head lease properties
• Other secure housing options created through the Victorian Government Big Build program.

Client referral will be through a variety of entry points including the City of Melbourne and Homes Victoria Homelessness Service Coordination Project and partner organisations.

Client assessment will identify people most at need and most suitable for a vacancy. All clients referred to Make Room will be provided with a case manager to offer regular, face to face practical support.

Make Room’s tenancy management approach focuses on building relationships with renters, managing tenancy challenges and operating proactively to address them. The approach will be flexible, demonstrate patience, be trauma informed and focused on working alongside the individual renter and to support sustained tenancy, build living skills and support transition to long term housing.

We know that Melburnians want to act and support people in our community who are sleeping rough, and there are many ways to get involved:

• You can donate now to Make Room through the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation.
• You can also subscribe to our mailing list to become involved in Make Room.
• Find out more ways you can help people experiencing homelessness.
• For more information email us at Make Room: MakeRoom@melbourne.vic.gov.au.

If you are sleeping rough, experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, there are a range of support services that you can access. Visit our website to find out more.