Victorian households 'at crisis point'

19 Oct 2011, 8:48 am   -   Source: AAP
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Affordable housing is hard to come by, research shows. (AAP)

Affordable housing is hard to come by, research shows. (AAP)

High housing costs are driving Victorian households to seek emergency relief for basics like food parcels and bills, according to a coalition of welfare and housing groups.

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High housing costs are driving Victorian households to seek emergency relief for basics like food parcels and bills, according to a coalition of welfare and housing groups.

Australians for Affordable Housing (AAH) says research shows Victoria's emergency relief agencies are seeing up to 600 households seeking housing assistance, with over half citing higher housings costs as the reason.

It says Victoria's emergency relief services also report that 80 per cent of clients are paying at least half their income on rent, leaving little for bills and food.

AAH campaign manager Sarah Toohey said emergency relief services are meant to be able to help households during a one-off crisis.

"But what they're seeing is households pushed into crisis, week after week by their rent," she said.

"When 50 to 60 per cent of your income is spent on housing costs, there is very little left.

"Not only do we need to increase the supply of low cost rental housing, we need to make sure people in the private rental market aren't pushed into poverty."

Ms Toohey said across Australia, over 850,000 renters are facing similar cost pressures.

"The problem of housing stress is at crisis point for low and middle income families, and unless we act to improve housing affordability for everyone, people will continue to struggle to afford to pay for the basics."

AAH is a coalition of national housing, welfare and community organisations formed to highlight the problem of housing affordability.
 

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Your Comments

Buy elsewhere

Homer - from Sydney, 7 months ago

I bought 20 acres in Thailand for $10,000 cash tax was $60 , why live here and be a slave to a bank for 30 years .I work here for 6 months then go put my feet up for 6 months in Thailand there is alternatives to this beaurocracy mad country .Eventually i will sell my house here for a fortune then relax in thailand for the rest of my days

Let's not jump at the "greed" aspect.

Fitzy - from Daylesford, 7 months ago

To rent out a property you have attendant costs and concerns. Not all tenants are good ones and often (speaking from experience) repairs and refurbishments are necessary beyond normal maintainance. As of now the median house price in Melbourne is $567,500. Looking at a $500,000 house, interest were this money in the bank amounts to $25,000 per annum or $480.77 a week. This is not profiteering. In 1969 the av salary was $3k and a new 3BR house/land was $12k. 40 years later both have risen 20 fold

Let's not jump at the "greed" aspect.

Fitzy - from Daylesford, 7 months ago

Renting a house is awfully hard for many people and exceptionally so for low income families. The term "landlord" has become a bit of a dirty word but consider this. For a house valued at say $350,000 (which would be a modest house in Melbourne but quite nice in regional areas) the owner could sell it, and just bank the money to get interest (at 5%) of $17,500 per annum or about $336.53 a week. You have to earn interest (or earn money from assets) to keep pace so you retain it's value.

This is

Liz - from Melbourne, 7 months ago

This is why we #occupymelbourne

@ paul

Dave - from GAwler, 7 months ago

Paul from QLD, that's utter rot. Go to school, work hard, get qualified in something, get a job or get mobile and find one elsewhere. The fair go you seem to be talking about is best found in a Marxist state. All you have to do is wait for a Green government in Australia Or find a suitable communist state. Entitlement without responsibility/effort will doom this nation. Just look at the UK

Not Surprised

Paul - from QLD, 7 months ago

While greed gets factored into every thing relating to living in this country low income families will never get ahead of things, this is a fact. While greed is aloud to fester there will never be low cost housing in this country, and while the three tiers of government are one of the key players in this along with corporations and business there will never be a fair go. this is just a sign of things to come, it will only get worse, the day's of fairness and equality have gone, for the moment.

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