Housing unaffordable for people on welfare: report

Updated

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Charity report highlights rental affordability problem (ABC News)

Anglicare Australia has released a new report on rental affordability which finds it is becoming almost impossible for people on welfare to afford to rent a home.

Anglicare surveyed more than 56,000 rental properties across the country.

It found less than 1 per cent of those properties were affordable for people on government benefits such as Newstart, parenting payments, the aged pension or disability support pensions.

Only 8.5 per cent of properties were affordable for families of four living on the dual minimum wage.

Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers says the findings are alarming.

"They are so dire... Our agencies are working with people every day of the week who are in these kinds of situations of extreme housing stress," she said.

Rental report key points: Singles are "seriously disadvantaged" in Australia's rental market

Less than 1 per cent of rental properties are affordable for singles on government benefits

Only 8.5 per cent of properties are affordable for families of four living on the dual minimum wage

The report surveyed 56,414 rental properties across Australia

"Unfortunately what we do see is that drives people to make impossible choices every day about whether they are going to pay the electricity bill.

"Rental and research by Anglicare agencies last year found that the only discretionary item in many peoples' budget is food and that is where cuts are being made and that is not something we can really live with."

Ms Chambers says the situation is getting worse.

"People who are not just on the minimum wage but who are in normal service jobs are finding it hard to find something," she said.

"So people are living further away from their jobs, travelling for longer. They are living without the appropriate number of bedrooms. Children aren't having somewhere quiet to do their homework, and that is the big story behind this.

"While these figures are dire they do give us an insight into the choices people have to make because housing is a foundation of so many other things."

I cant even afford to board in a house let alone rent one.. Everyday my payment goes down. When are we going to fix this? - @rawrzbabi

Ms Chambers says when people's living arrangements are inadequate, education, employment, health and relationships also suffer.

She is calling on the Federal Government to increase Newstart payments and invest more in housing.

"We found 13 properties, only 13 out of 56,000 across the country that would have been affordable for a single person on Newstart," she said.

"That is clearly got to be something we have to do something about."

Topics: housing, housing-industry, welfare, australia

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