For anyone trying to support a family while the cost of living skyrockets, the problem of trying to find an affordable place to live could not be more important.
Anglicare Victoria’s recent Rental Affordability Snapshot put the issue back in the media spotlight again, but unfortunately none of the news is good. For those scraping by on some form of income support, just two per cent of the rental properties advertised in Victoria on the day of the snapshot would be affordable. The others would catapult them straight into varying degrees of housing stress.
This year the lower availability of rental properties is making it even harder for people to find a place to call home. Two thirds of the council areas in Victoria had no rental listings whatsoever and, in the places where rentals were available, rents are the highest they’ve ever been.
Anglicare Victoria’s Chief Executive Officer Paul McDonald said rental affordability was “a slow-moving car-crash that has been ignored by the Federal Government for many years”.
“Intense competition for properties continues to drive rents higher, both in Melbourne and the regions. While the Victorian Government has recognised the seriousness of the situation and is acting to build social housing, it is beyond time that both parties at the federal level began to back up their words with some genuine action,” Mr McDonald said.
Single mums do it tough
Anglicare Victoria is seeing dozens of single mums who have had to flee domestic violence situations – often with just the bare essentials – and are finding it hard to get rentals they can afford.
This year there were just seven properties out of almost 19,000 which were affordable for single parents on income support. For singles on JobSeeker or Youth Allowance with no children, there were no properties in any area – and that includes rooms to let in share houses – which they would be able to rent without going into housing stress.
Overall, there were 40 per cent fewer rental properties advertised compared to the year before, and those available were more expensive on average.
Mr McDonald said the biggest problem that families are facing is that the cost of everything is going up while both wages and income support have been stubbornly flat.
“You can’t find extra money to cover higher rent by saving on groceries, power or petrol, because all of these have gone up as well. This makes the many services provided by Anglicare Victoria to those in need more important than ever,” he said.
Anglicare Victoria’s Rental Affordability Snapshot report can be downloaded from our website.
