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

It is a unique partnership between the City of Melbourne, Unison Housing, the Victorian Government and key philanthropic and corporate 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 housing for up to 50 people who are experiencing rough sleeping and homelessness. 

The building will offer 50 self-contained studio apartments a purpose-built rooftop garden and onsite support space. Once complete, Unison will manage tenancies and work with specialist support services to provide residents with on-site housing, health and other wrap-around support services.

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

In our city, we are facing a housing and homelessness crisis; a situation mirrored across Australia. Visible homelessness, people sleeping rough 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 problem – sleeping in their cars, on other people’s couches and in severely overcrowded or temporary accommodation.

Ending homelessness is a priority for the City of Melbourne. We want to provide an option for people to move into safe and secure housing with tailored support until they are offered or ready for long-term housing. That’s why we have developed a local way to create more housing in our city.

Make Room will provide 50 studio apartments and a range of ancillary spaces Residents will stay for up to 12 months, or until they can access secure long-term housing.

602 Little Bourke Street isn't a drop-in centre, but purpose-built supported transitional housing, specially designed to provide tenants with a safe place to live. 

The onsite service support will provide flexible and coordinated case management to ensure that every resident has a tailored, client directed care plan that 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 housing within 12 months. 

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 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 remaining in supported housing and exiting homelessness. 

The building will be refurbished and converted into safe, modern housing – self-contained studio apartments – for people to live. A social enterprise will be located on site that will support employment and training opportunities.

The activation of the street frontage will foster community belonging and enhance safety and security. 

Council has donated the building, worth $12 million. 

Make Room involves converting 602 Little Bourke Street into secure supported transitional housing. Make Room 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, Unison Housing and a range of partners, including the philanthropic and corporate sectors, to fund and deliver this project. In addition, ongoing individual case management will be provided to residents to help break the cycle of rough sleeping and homelessness and get their lives back on track. The Victorian Government has a service agreement with Unison Housing to fund these critical wraparound support services.

The cost of the redevelopment is approximately $24.9 million. As of October 2023, we have secured $15.5 million in funding including from the Victorian Government ($9 million), and the philanthropic and corporate sectors and our community ($6.5 million).

Our key philanthropic and corporate partners include The Ian Potter Foundation, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Gandel Foundation, Portland House Foundation Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, The William Buckland Foundation, the Hansen Little Foundation, Erdi Foundation and PWC.

Unison and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation are accepting donations for the project and provide donors with a tax-deductible receipt.

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

In May 2022, we appointed registered housing provider Unison Housing to undertake the refurbishment work. Significant progress has been made, including major project achievements including:

• Appointment of i2C Architects
• Development of detailed architectural designs
• Completion of an early works contract in order to set up internal demolition, and service isolation
• Successful submission of two planning permits
• Appointment of Harris HMC as the builder
• Completion of Cultural Safety Guidelines
• Development of a detailed building works schedule
• Commencement of construction.

The early works phase is now complete and the building refurbishment works commenced in October 2023 and are due to be completed mid-2024.

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.  

Gradual tenanting of the site will commence following the practical completion of the building in mid-2024. This will be managed by Unison Housing and their on-site support provider (yet to be formally appointed) and will be directly supported by the Melbourne Service Coordination program. Gradual tenanting is critical to ensuring the smooth establishment of the service model and tailoring of supports for residents

The Make Room project will help break the cycle of sustained homelessness by providing supported housing and specialist services for people for up to 12 months, or less if they are offered longer-term housing. Importantly, Unison’s Housing and Homelessness services which includes a continuum of transitional, social and affordable housing options, will provide a tangible pathway to transition from sleeping rough into long-term housing.  

City of Melbourne, Unison Housing and builder Harris HMC are working together to minimise disruption for local residents and businesses as much as possible.

The builder, Harris HMC’s will ensure nuisance levels such as noise, dust, and vibration are controlled and minimised. Works will only be conducted during times permitted by local authorities. Traffic movement on Little Bourke Street will be coordinated and managed to minimise inconvenience and disruption to local residents and businesses.

The full closure of Lt Bourke St will only occur on weekends and local access will be maintained for all properties.

The operating model is based on proven, transitional accommodation and supported housing sites nationally and internationally. The model will be underpinned by a trauma informed, therapeutic model of care. 

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 (click on the Are you concerned? box at the bottom of this page).

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

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 housing 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 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 (click on 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 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 200-metre radius informing them about Make Room
• The consultation received 4,085 page visitors
• 9 participants at community meetings
• 113 Participate Melbourne submissions.

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

The Make Room project is being overseen by Homes Melbourne – a specialist team within the City of Melbourne that is dedicated to reducing homelessness and increasing safe, secure, and affordable housing in our city.

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.

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 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 Street represents the best opportunity to create secure, supported housing 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 people, providing nearby housing to people sleeping on our streets will improve the amenity of the area for visitors, workers and residents. 

We recognise that neighbours and businesses near any new supported housing may have 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, Unison Housing 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, Melbourne 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 residents, managing tenancy challenges and operating proactively to address them. The approach will be flexible, demonstrate patience, be trauma informed and focused on working alongside individuals 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.
• Contact us for more information.

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.