The cost of renting is a serious problem for people in regional areas that has been overlooked, according to a Warrnambool youth services worker.
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An Anglicare Australia report assessed the affordability of 75,400 rental properties across Australia in early April and found single people in regional areas were facing the most difficult situations.
Peter Flanagan from Brophy Family and Youth Services said the lack of affordable rental housing in the south-west was a huge barrier.
“If you’re a young person on Youth Allowance, you’ll get $433 a fortnight and $130 rent assistance,” he said.
“The median rental for a one bedroom property in Warrnambool is $200 a week, so that will take up 70 per cent of your income.”
Of 18,103 regional properties examined, only 15 were found to be suitable for a single person living on the Newstart payment and none were suitable for those on Youth Allowance.
Affordable rental arrangements were defined as those which took up less than 30 per cent of a household’s income.
Mr Flanagan said each year around 300 young people facing homelessness or the risk of homelessness approach Brophy for help.
”We can’t meet the demand, we can only scratch the surface,” he said.
“What happens is we talk about drugs and alcohol, family violence, etc, but people can get themselves out of that if there’s a resource to go to. I can only house 30 or 40 people in one night, but it doesn’t fix it – there needs to be structural change through policy.”
Anglicare Australia has produced the Rental Affordability Snapshot for seven years, with a focus on people living on government payments and the minimum wage.
“The severe financial hardship associated with meeting the cost of rental accommodation leaves many families on low income needing to choose between basic necessities such as paying bills, buying food, seeing a doctor, or paying the rent,” Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said.
A rental report produced by the Department of Health and Human Services for the December quarter in 2015 found that the Barwon-South West region of Victoria had the lowest proportion of affordable new lettings.
The average median rent for a one bedroom dwelling in regional centres across Victoria was $160, which is $40 less than Warrnambool.
