SEVEN mentally ill Footscray residents could lose their home because the Maribyrnong City Council believes there are too many unrelated people living in the house to classify it as share accommodation, according to the venue’s operators.

Head of Prisoners Advocate Victoria (Arden House) Helmut Kirsch, said the home met all the council’s health and planning requirements, but under the Maribyrnong building code, was considered to have too many unrelated occupants.

He said recent changes to the council’s building code now allowed no more than two unrelated people to live in a residence, or else it was considered a boarding house.

But Mr Kirsch said a shared house was a dwelling consisting of less than 10 habitable rooms and not a rooming house, under the State’s Government’s planning laws.

The council is seeking to re-classify the Footscray residence as a class ‘1B’ type house, which means Arden House could be forced to shut the home, as the reclassification would affect unrelated matters, such as insurance, increasing rates by up to 800 per cent.

Mr Kirsch said the Footscray house, which has eight bedrooms and male residents aged from 19 years old to almost 70, meets all safety standards, including having smoke alarms and fire exits.

However, according to Maribyrnong’s City Sustainable Development general manager John Luppino, “the specific premises does not meet the requirements of the Building Act and cannot be registered as a rooming house until it is compliant.”

“Specific items of concern include things such as the installation of hard-wired smoke detectors. A building permit is also required for the conversion to a rooming house. Council is also yet to receive an application from the owner for registration as a rooming house,” he said.

Arden House provides accommodation for former prisoners and people who have not been imprisoned, but are former mental institution wards or refugees.

Mr Kirsch says the Footscray building is close to a hospital, which makes it an ideal spot for tenants with acute health issues, as some of the residents have bi-polar disorder or medication needs.

“If we do lose this appeal, we could be forced to move them out within days, although the council’s health department said they were happy to register us under the Health Act,” Mr Kirsch said.

“What can we do? We have no beds left this morning (last Wednesday). There’s a very real prospect they could end up homeless or we’ll be forced to deny residency to others we’re housing.”

Arden House is waiting to find out from the state Building Appeals Board when a hearing appealing the council’s decision will be held.

However, the group is in the process of closing down the Footscray house, as they are afraid the decision might not be in their favour. Mr Kirsch said the Footscray house’s residents, some whom have lived there for up to five years, were worried they might have to leave their home.