New statistics have revealed a harrowing long-term shortage of affordable rental properties for Wagga’s low-income families.
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The figures, compiled by Anglicare, analysed 319 Wagga properties available for lease in terms of their affordability and the number of family members they could accommodate.
Shockingly, Anglicare could not find even one property available for rent in Wagga for young people relying on Centrelink payments such as Youth Allowance or Newstart.
For a single working person earning the minimum wage, there were just 20 properties available for rent in the city.
The situation was not much better for a single parent of two on a parenting payment, with only seven properties available for those Wagga families.
Even for a single parent of two children employed on the minimum-wage and receiving the government’s Family Tax Benefit, there were only 33 suitable properties available in Wagga, constituting just 10 per cent of the rental market.
Anglicare Regional Manager for the Riverina Brad Addison said this was a pattern that had been forming steadily for the last few years.
“Seeing no improvement in the housing situation over the last several years is devastating news for vulnerable families in Wagga,” he said.
“Housing uncertainty begins to take its toll on families who are already struggling.”
Mr Addison called on the government to implement housing reform instead of letting the burden fall to non-profit organisations.
“More needs to be done – specifically, there is a need for more public housing and greater protection for tenants,” he said.
“Without housing reforms, there will be greater pressure on community organisations like Anglicare to make sure people don’t fall through the cracks.”
While affordable options are lacking, this does not appear to be the result of a particularly high rental market.
Director of Wagga’s Hore and Davies John Bittar said Wagga’s rental market had been fairly open and stable for the last few years.
“The rental market certainly hasn’t gone up too much in the last couple of years, and vacancy rates in the Riverina are slightly higher than they have been in the last few years with more people looking to get into the buyers’ market,” Mr Bittar said.
“There are still some reasonably affordable rentals in Wagga from the high 100s up to $260 or $270 a week on the lower-to-medium-end range of market.”