In my live show with Leith van Onselen yesterday, we pulled apart the major party campaigns relating to housing, which focussed on those trying to buy, and a promise of higher home prices for all. This will put a rocket under home prices. But the real story, and the accompanying policy vacuum relates to the rental sector. One third of households are renting, and the number continues to rise as people are squeezed out of home ownership.
As I reported my surveys show that more than three in four renters are under financial pressure, with many caught in the ugly situation of having to accept significant further lifts in rent or have to enter the scrum to find another place which is more affordable.
“Australia is facing its worst rental crisis yet … with little relief in sight for most renters,” said Karen Walsh, chief executive of National Shelter. “Many renters across Australia are hurting and in distress. As rents rise faster than wages, they’re trapped in a relentless cycle … facing a reality where hope for a brighter future feels increasingly out of reach.”
Speaking to ABC News Channel, Maiy Azize from Everybody’s Home — a National campaign dedicated to fixing Australia’s housing crisis — and a former national secretary for the Greens, said it was a huge problem but there had not been any significant major party announcements for renters.
“Six hundred and forty thousand renters across the country are in really, really extreme rental stress, there is just nothing put on the table for them this federal election, which is really disappointing to see.”
This is a policy free area, through the campaign, yet its the pointy bit of the housing crisis. Why are politicians avoiding the issue?
