LOW income households in Ballarat are being forced further under the poverty line as rental affordability fails to improve.
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A report released by the Tenants Union of Victoria (TUV) has established rent remains unaffordable for seven out of eight low income households in Ballarat with students receiving the Austudy allowance worst affected.
Despite a 1.3 per cent drop since December 2014, the report which assessed the city’s median rents compared with other regional towns, revealed median rental costs consume almost 58 per cent of a students’ $277 weekly income on a one bedroom flat in Ballarat.
Single parents and aged pensioners were also catergorised as living in housing stress with 39.7 per cent of a single parent’s income and 33.1 per cent of an aged pensioner’s income used on rent.
In comparison, Swan Hill came out on top as the state’s most affordable city with aged pensioners only spending 28.2 per cent of their income on rent and 36.8 per cent for single parents.
TUV policy officer Yaelle Caspi said compared to families on the average weekly wage, families receiving Newstart allowances ($744 a week) were forced the farthest below the poverty line after paying the median rent on a three bedroom house in Ballarat.
“76 per cent of low income households are in housing stress, it is clear that the private rental market is not meeting the needs of a large proportion of the population,” she said.
“Over a quarter of private renters are considered low income so we are talking about a great number of people who are under an enormous.
“This is a huge issue, particularly as social housing waiting lists soar to a staggering 51,400 in Victoria alone.”
Ms Caspi said an increase to state and federal funding for social housing and, federal reform to increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance is needed to improve the dire situation for low income households.
However it wasn’t all bad news, with the report also revealing median rental prices in Ballarat remained stable for all housing types when compared to the previous quarter.
Stockdale Leggo principal John McMahon said compared to those living in cities such as Melbourne and Geelong, Ballarat renters were much better off.
“There are probably 500-600 properties currently available to rent in Ballarat,” he said.
“There is a 2-3 per cent vacancy rate … it’s a fair rate for landlords and tenants. That’s keeping rent stable.”