More young Griffith residents could be forced to sleep rough if the current housing crisis continues, according to the city's youth refuge.
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Deb Longhurst, the manager of Youth Link's crisis accommodation, says there is 105 homeless people between the ages of 12 and 25 currently receiving support in Griffith and finding accommodation for each person is becoming increasingly difficult.
"The problem now is with the housing crisis," Ms Longhurst said.
"Young people kicked out of home with no rental history or sustainable income are being forced to compete with about 300 people for every property."
"There are no exit points for young people from the youth refuge so we've got a bottleneck."
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Ms Longhurst says some of these young Griffith residents have been forced to sleep outdoors and more could be forced into the same situation if nothing changes.
She says more social housing needs to be built in Griffith as soon as possible to house those struggling.
"There is a big push to create more social housing because it's also seen as a solution to the economic problems that we're going to see post-COVID," Ms Longhurst said.
"If you build housing, you create jobs and you create an economy."
Last year, Griffith City Council announced a $12 million plan to create 20 new affordable homes and 45 affordable housing lots as part of the Griffin Green project in Dave Taylor Park.
Ms Longhurst, who is also a councillor for Griffith City Council, says the issue of youth homelessness is one which goes unnoticed for many Griffith residents.
"I talk to a lot of people who have absolutely no idea," she said. "Because for the vast majority of these young homeless people, they're not out on the street, they are in support accommodation or couch surfing with friends."
"But there are new homeless people popping up all the time, and unless something is done about the housing I'm worried that could continue."
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