Last week our Content Editor, Ian Horswill, walked up to me and said “you must read this report”. He was right, and it was very sobering.
Titled ‘Rental Affordability Snapshot 2024’, published by Anglicare Australia, it broke down how many homes were available to rent for people on Social Security on realestate.com.au on one weekend in March.
Out of 45,115 homes for rent, only 89 nationally were priced such that a single person (predominantly women) on the Age Pension could afford it. 450 were available for a couple on the age pension.
At the other end of the age scale, a couple on Jobseeker with two children under the age of 10 had only 160 rental homes to choose from across the country.
A single parent with two children relying on parenting payments had 49 homes to choose from.
The opening words in the introduction to the Anglicare report were “The worst it has ever been”. It then said:
“The stark reality facing people on low incomes is that they will not find an affordable place to live, that families will be evicted because another rent increase will push them beyond the limit, and for those fortunate enough to find a home, they will be forced to choose between putting food on the table and staying warm this winter or keeping a roof over their head.
“This is not hyperbole. This is Australia’s new normal,” it said.
Anglicare explains that Australian Governments, commencing with Bob Hawke, transitioned away from being a major social housing provider, preferring the private market to provide affordable housing and rental assistance being available through Centrelink.
“In 1981 – 82, the government spent $2.5 billion on social housing through agreements with the states and territories, the equivalent of just over $10 billion today and adjusted for inflation. 40 years later, the government spends $1.7 billion on the same programs. That is a real terms reduction of 80%.”
We are now short 640,000 public and community housing units. Anglicare rationalises that we need the Government to build at least 25,000 new homes every year for the next two decades.
As we have discussed before, within the retirement village sector there is physical space and aged accommodation ideal for providing housing for senior Australians at risk.
In June 2022, the Retirement Living Council created a White Paper for government that identified eight steps that can create housing for single women, what they term ‘the missing middle’.
As experts in supporting senior Australians in their ageing journey, and having the assets available to be creative, we have a responsibility to reignite innovative solutions. We at The SOURCE are going to discuss this more in the coming weeks.
Quickly, the second must read document on housing was the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council’s ‘State of the Housing System’, its first report led by ex-Mirvac CEO, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz.
This is a very impressive analysis of the drivers of our current housing dilemma.
Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz says: “Our housing crisis is a collective problem in need of collective solutions – harnessing all levels of government, the private sector and the not‑for‑profit sector.”
You can download a copy HERE, and we will review it next week.
As Susan says: “It’s not an academic topic, it truly matters.”
