General News
12 June, 2023
Report finds no affordable rentals for single residents paid a minimum wage
A new study has found that there are no affordable properties for rent in Central Goldfields Shire for a single person with no children who receives Centrelink payments or the minimum wage. Anglicare’s Rental Affordability Snapshot 2023 found that...
A new study has found that there are no affordable properties for rent in Central Goldfields Shire for a single person with no children who receives Centrelink payments or the minimum wage.
Anglicare’s Rental Affordability Snapshot 2023 found that rental affordability has crashed to record lows across Australia.
Each year, Anglicare Australia completes a survey of the private rental market to determine if it is possible for people on low incomes to rent a home.
On one weekend in March, they assess properties listed for rent on realestate.com.au.
“For most people on low incomes, rent needs to be no more than 30 percent of a household budget for it not to cause financial stress and difficult choices. This is the benchmark that Anglicare Australia uses,” the Anglicare report said.
There were 10 properties listed for rent in Central Goldfields Shire the weekend the snapshot was completed.
The study found that six of those 10 were affordable for couples with children on minimum wage.
However, a couple receiving the age pension could only afford one out of the 10 rental properties.
There were no affordable rentals for singles or couples on JobSeeker or singles on minimum wage.
A single person receiving the Disability Support Pension or Youth Allowance also could not afford to rent any of the available properties.
There was only one affordable rental for a single person with one child on the Parenting Payment (single).
Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) Victoria says more social and affordable housing must be prioritised.
CHIA Vic acting chief executive Jason Perdriau said social and affordable housing should be central to the Victorian Government’s planning reforms.
“It’s clear Victorian renters are being let down by the private market. Right now, Victorians have limited affordable housing options with the state having the lowest proportion of social housing in the country. This is unacceptable,” Mr Perdriau said.
“Too many Victorians are waiting for a safe, decent, affordable place to call home. We’re calling on the government to create a fairer housing system that provides the homes renters need, by ensuring the delivery of social housing is central to planning reforms.”
Maryborough Ballarat Real Estate operations manager Jamie Lampard said the rental market was “one of the tightest rental markets” he’d seen in his career.
Maryborough Ballarat Real Estate currently has four properties listed for rent in Maryborough.
“Those four properties have collectively seen close to 150 enquiries,” Mr Lampard said.
“There’s so much demand for one house and there’s just a massive supply shortage of available rental properties.”
Mr Lampard said additional pressure was being placed on towns like Maryborough with people who would ordinarily secure a rental in Ballarat or Bendigo looking further afield.
“Because of that, we’re seeing more demand in those smaller cities like Maryborough and Beaufort and Ararat. What we’re seeing at the moment is incredibly high demand for rental properties,” he said.
Mr Lampard said more government incentives for investors to buy properties to rent out and building more houses “focused towards low income earners” would help alleviate the problem.