Median rental prices continue to rise in Ballarat, with a sharp increase in the cost of renting one bedroom flats, pushing more people on low incomes into housing stress.
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There was a 10.5 per cent increase in the median rent for a one bedroom flat in the 12 months to December 2020, a Department of Health and Human Services' Rental Report shows.
The price increases mean people living on low incomes are spending more than half of their income on rent.
It means more and more people are not going to be able to afford to put a roof over their heads.
- Jenny Smith, Council To Homeless Persons
Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said the data was from the December quarter, but reports suggested the situation had worsened in the months since.
"In regional Victoria, places like Ballarat, people do expect to find more affordable properties and the data is not really bearing that out," she said.
"It means more and more people are not going to be able to afford to put a roof over their heads.
"We had this circumstance (of an increasing national housing market) pre-COVID and it really is gobsmacking this increase is continuing throughout COVID.
"With the cuts to Centrelink payments, the economic modelling that shows we expect to see a nine per cent increase in homelessness by June this year look ominously likely."
Data from the Residential Tenancies and Authority Records shows the number of affordable rentals as a percentage of all rentals plummeted in the past year in regional Victoria and is the lowest since March 2000.
There were 88.4 per cent of all rentals considered affordable to lower income households in 2000, compared to 34.6 per cent in December 2020 in regional Victoria.
The data shows there was a decrease of 91 properties considered affordable, which means within 30 per cent of the gross income of lower income households, in Ballarat in 2020.
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The biggest issue is with one bedroom properties in Ballarat, with only five considered affordable in December 2020, 8.6 per cent of all one bedroom properties.
This issue is reflected in Ballarat homelessness services' data, with Uniting frequently reporting the biggest need as for people searching for one bedroom properties.
For two bedroom properties, 34.7 per cent or 66 properties were considered affordable in Ballarat.
The percentage continues to increase for three bedroom properties, 45.3 per cent ,and four plus bedroom properties, 54.8 per cent, when affordability is measured for a couple on JobSeeker with children.
The data highlights a well-known issue in Daylesford, with zero affordable one bedroom properties recorded in all of Hepburn Shire in December 2020.
Ms Smith said JobSeeker and other payments were not sufficient for people to afford housing.
"That is something the federal government has currently chosen not to address with a $3 a day increase being all that has been offered," she said.
Ms Smith said the federal government needed to provide social housing funding to support the Victorian government's $5.3 billion investment.
That funding will create an additional 12,000 social and affordable housing properties in the next four years in the state.
Ms Smith said it was a 'grim' situation for people experiencing housing stress.
People on low incomes who are managing to stay in their rental property may be forced to make choices between paying for rent, food, medical needs, transport or schooling.
People who are not able to maintain their rental payments rely on homelessness support services and can end up moving around temporary accommodation like motels or couch surfing while they wait on a long list for long-term housing.
Ms Smith said 108 requests for assistance were unmet each day by homelessness services in regional Victoria because requests for help far exceeded their capacity to respond.
She said people needing the support of homelessness services was expected to increase by 24 per cent.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria data shows Ballarat's rental vacancy rate continues to remain low, recorded at 1.4 per cent in February 2021.
It is understood a vacancy rate of three per cent was required for a healthy rental market, where there is enough supply to meet demand.
A lower rental vacancy rate indicates landlords may have the upper hand in a bargaining position, while a high or rising vacancy rate generally means tenants are in a more favourable position.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
