Almost 40 per cent of renters cannot afford bills, clothing, transport and food after paying rent because their incomes have been reduced due to COVID-19, new research has found.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute surveyed 15,000 public and private renting households across all Australian states and territories during July and August 2020.
Leaders of Ballarat's social services told The Courier the nationwide findings were in line with what they had experienced in Ballarat in Victoria's Central Highlands.
The research revealed renters earning less than $90,000 per year had higher rates of reduced working hours, temporary job loss or reduction to overall income, compared to higher income households.
One in six respondents reported they had accessed government income assistance, such as JobKeeper or JobSeeker, for the first time.
We have got uncertainty about support and uncertainty about people's ability to change their own circumstances.
- Andrew Eales, Ballarat Foundation
Around half of survey respondents said their mental health had been negatively affected by COVID-19 lockdowns and just over 10 per cent reported this had been significant.
Centacare chief executive Tony Fitzgerald said the organisation's emergency relief programs had experienced a significant increase in renters seeking assistance for essentials.
"The critical threshold we know is once you are paying more than 30 per cent of your income on rent you start to eat into surpluses that are available to meet your essentials," he said.
"With income down because of job loss, living on JobSeeker or JobKeeper, or just having reduced hours, that rental percentage of their income is increasing and not leaving enough leftover to pay for the basic bills."
Mr Fitzgerald said people's financial situation would not improve until the economy was re-opened and people could get back into paid work.
"Getting people back into jobs is the solution, so the quicker we can reopen the economy and get people back to work, that will make it easier for people to be able to afford to pay their rent," he said.
"The governments need to recognise that in terms of the support they provide until such time that the economy can catch up.
"People have used up their savings and accessed their super, so they are running out of options."
READ MORE:
In examining the stability of tenancies, researchers found just over 5 per cent of respondents had been issued with an eviction notice during the pandemic.
Even though some of those tenants benefitted from state and territory eviction protections, just over half of households issued with eviction notices went on to be evicted.
Sixteen per cent of renters surveyed had requested a deferral or reduction in rent, and of those, 30 per cent said that the landlord would not negotiate or did not respond to their request.
Ballarat Foundation chief executive Andrew Eales said it was clear deferments and protections created for landlords and renters were not a 'one size fits all solution' .
"I think this report is just another example that we are not on the brink of a crisis, we are fully enveloped in a social crisis in our community," he said.
"The response and what we have seen from a community perspective in Ballarat certainly supports that.
"In the food relief area we are seeing more and more calls for support and assistance every week."
Mr Eales said people in the middle of hardship were facing great uncertainty, with no clear indication on the future of the JobSeeker payment rate, the ending of JobKeeper next year and no announcements on eviction moratoriums and rent deferrals in the long-term.
"The ability of the economy to rebound next year is really uncertain about how we are going to get back to business and how we are going to generate jobs, which ultimately is going to remove people from needing that government support," he said.
"This is the massive challenge. We have got uncertainty about support and uncertainty about people's ability to change their own circumstances.
"I think we are in for an extremely tough 2021 economically."
Mr Fitzgerald encouraged people who were experiencing rental stress to talk to their agent or landlord regarding their rental arrangements.