Fight for one Curtin rental (4 May 2024)
Only one of 289 properties available for rent in the seat of Curtin in March was afford able for young people or those looking for work, Curtin MP Kate Chaney said.
And it was the same across Western Australia, according to Anglicare.
The charity on Tuesday released the results of its annual statewide survey of the number of rental properties it considered affordable for people living on Jobseeker, the Youth Allowance or pensions for the aged or disabled.
Anglicare measures rental availability and affordability every March.
It rated rental property as affordable if it cost less than, 30% of a household's income, and appropriate if it had an adequate number of bedrooms.
The survey looked for rental properties that would be appropriate for singles, couples and families. It found only one in Curtin considered suitable for a couple on the aged pension, with no children.
Anglicare said in a statement a that while there were more private rentals available than last year, there were still 59% fewer than in March 2020.
Declining availability and high interest rates had pushed up the cost of rent. Ms Chaney said the results of Anglicare's most recent WA rentals snapshot came as no surprise.
"This data reinforces what I'm hearing from constituents that there's a widening intergenerational divide when it comes to housing affordability across Curtin," she said.
"Young people report they can't afford to move out without moving away from their support networks of family and friends.
"Young couples are returning to the family home to save for a loan deposit, and young families are moving back with older parents to be near family support while they juggle careers."
Although the federal government was talking up its plans for cost-of-living relief in the upcoming budget, she doubted it would do much to help renters "struggling to afford the roof over their head, let alone the other essentials".
"Last year's Curtin Housing Forums identified an urgent need to change our approach to housing, to treat it as a home not an asset," she said.
