“Slap in the face”: vulnerable residents face eviction amid Grattan St redevelopment

Amanda* has lived in her flat on Grattan St for seven years. At 76, she’s built a quiet, steady life in Carlton – a location close to public transport, shops, and medical care. But that stability is now under threat.

Earlier this year, the Allan government announced that “underutilised” and “surplus health residential land” in Grattan St owned by the Royal Women’s Hospital (RWH) would be sold under the Small Sites program to unlock more housing.

Redevelopment of the land lots, which Inner City News has since learned are located at 127 and 141 Grattan St, is being led by the government entity Development Victoria (DV).

The site at 141 Grattan St had been used as accommodation for regional patients travelling to Melbourne for specialist care at the hospital. In October last year, the 27-year-old service was abruptly closed with just six days' notice and no replacement offered.

The government did not detail at the time of its announcement that the hospital-owned land also included a separate apartment building at 127 Grattan St managed by real estate agency Nelson Alexander. This building is currently occupied by long-term private renters who now face an uncertain future.

The decision affects around 14 tenants at 127 Grattan St who have been told they will need to vacate their homes by March next year.

Among them is Amanda, who is on the aged pension. She struggles with English and lives alone having lost her husband during COVID-19.

Another tenant, Hannah* (78), has also lived in the building for 38 years, previously worked as a cleaner at the hospital and is active in the Greek Cypriot community.

Another resident is a single mother whose child attends primary school in Carlton.

All now face displacement and told Inner City News that the government was yet to provide any clear support for alternative housing. 

Amanda’s neighbour, Sarah*, said that she had been actively assisting her to find a new home.

“I spoke to several housing organisations – they all knocked her back; because she has more than $15,000 in the bank – which is basically the cost of a funeral – she doesn’t qualify for any support. But that doesn’t mean she can afford market rent.”

Sarah added that Amanda was currently paying under $300 a week in rent and is on a pension of $500 per week, leaving her with roughly $200 spare each week for food, phone bills, electricity, internet and other expenses.

Amanda and Hannah represent one of the fastest growing groups of people at risk of homelessness nationally, with single women aged 55-plus overrepresented among the asset poor in Australia.

Without support to secure an alternative affordable housing option in the local area, Amanda now faces the very real prospect of being relocated away from her community of seven years, with the median apartment rental cost in Carlton around $550 per week.

“I've been looking at student accommodation around Carlton, because there's a lot of that. But then I spoke to one real estate agent, and she said, we won't rent to the elderly because it's too difficult to get them out,” Sarah said.

Despite multiple efforts to reach out to accommodation and elderly support services, Sarah has not been successful.

Nelson Alexander has engaged with Sarah to secure a potential option for Amanda; another apartment they manage on nearby Cardigan St, also owned by the RWH.

However, that flat is located on the second floor and only accessible by stairs. It’s also a two-bedroom apartment, making it more expensive and far beyond Amanda’s financial means.

The RWH told Inner City News that it had “provided tenants with information on how to access support and have instructed the property managers to provide advice and, where appropriate, to actively assist tenants to transfer to other suitable rental properties”.

But according to Sarah, the conversation about Cardigan St only happened because she pushed for it.

“They haven’t provided us with information on how to access help. If they have, I'd like to see evidence,” Sarah said.

“I was the one to ask that they accommodate us on Cardigan St as tenants vacate, which The Women’s agreed to. To date, only one apartment has become available.”

Representatives from DV, the RWH and the Victorian Government met with residents shortly after they received a letter notifying them of the sale, which Sarah described as “useless” and “a slap in the face”.

“They said 10 per cent [of the new development] is required to be affordable housing – defined as dual income of $156,000. That’s laughable,” she said.

“Why is only 10 per cent required to be affordable? And if this is what affordable housing looks like, we’re screwed.”

Out of the 14 units in the building, Sarah estimates that around 10 are occupied by single-income households. The current plans would leave many without viable housing options in the inner city.

A spokesperson for DV said the redevelopment would begin with an expression of interest process in the second half of 2025 from developers with experience in delivering apartment and townhouse developments.

“The Grattan St site will deliver 70 high quality homes, allowing more people to live closer to jobs, public transport and healthcare,” the DV spokesperson said.

Sarah is not convinced.

“They are telling us they need to redevelop the block for more housing, yet who are they building it for? It’s a land grab for someone to get rich. No-one actually cares about affordable housing,” she said.

Existing residents remain frustrated by a lack of accountability from the state government that no agency has taken responsibility for assisting them secure alternative housing.

Development Victoria says it’s just delivering the project. The RWH owns the land but told Inner City News it had instructed Nelson Alexander to try to assist tenants as best as it could.

The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the government agency responsible for social housing services, was contacted for comment.

In response, a Victorian Government spokesperson said, "Following the hospital's decision to declare the Grattan St land as surplus - the site will now deliver about 70 high quality homes, including 10 per cent affordable – that is more than three times the homes currently on the site. That's more homes for Victorian families that are close to jobs, services and transport."

"Project partners are meeting with existing tenants to determine if any require additional support to assist with the move, and if required will connect them to the right government support services."

"The status quo won’t cut it. There is only one way out of the housing crisis – we're building our way out."

The government confirmed that of the 16 apartments at 127 Grattan St, 14 were currently tenanted, and that 141 Grattan St was vacant. •

*Names changed for privacy reasons.