Zero affordable rentals for low income Australians

Alexander Rowan has been in four rentals in four years. His last landlord hiked the rent by $120.00 a week, effectively booting him out. We try not to let money control us, but obviously we need a roof over our head, so it’s really hard not to, you know, Paddock and stress in those situations. Dealing with an ongoing illness, his income halved and to find a home, he and his partner had to move almost an hour away. I would have much preferred to stay closer to friends, family, work and knowing my treatment places but. Yeah, it was all we could get. It was pretty rough. Out of 45,000 Australian rental listings, just 289 are affordable for a person earning the full time minimum wage. Only 89 are affordable for someone just earning the age pension. And three share houses in the entire country would work for someone on Job Seeker, according to Anglicare research. It’s really quite heartbreaking. The charitable organization wants negative gearing gone, Job Seeker boosted and federal government built affordable housing. It’s beyond time that we stopped asking the private rental market to do the heavy lifting in affordable housing. The situation for all renters is getting worse. The national median rent has now hit $630 a week, and the most recent quarter saw the fastest rate of increase in 17 years. Though, even with that in mind, landlords say they’re doing it tough, too. We have to be very careful that we don’t tinker with what will end up being even less supply on the market. But both renters and investors say they need help. Anything they can do to sort of help us, we’re we’re asking. We’re begging. Chris Kohler, 9 News.