Anglicare Tasmania Inc. - April 2010 - Tasmanian rentals unaffordable

April 2010 - Tasmanian rentals unaffordable

87.2% of the rental housing advertised in Tasmania last week was unaffordable for people on low incomes, a new snapshot survey by Anglicare has revealed.

And around half of the properties in the ‘affordable’ price range were share houses – an option not suitable for everybody.

Of the 399 properties advertised for rent in Tasmania’s three major newspapers on Saturday April 10, Anglicare found that only 51 would be affordable for someone on a low income.

Affordable rent is defined as one which takes up less than 30% of a household’s income. This 30% benchmark is commonly used as an indicator of “housing stress”.

Anglicare researcher Kathleen Flanagan said that while share house accommodation was more affordable, many of the ads ruled out tenants who were unemployed.

“We found that many of the ads for shared housing were very specific – calling for a ‘young professional’ or ‘business person’,” she said.

The findings showed that all of the rental properties advertised – including share houses - were unaffordable for students dependent on Youth Allowance or Austudy.

People on unemployment benefits or with children would also struggle to find somewhere affordable and appropriate to live.

Survey results:

Table 1: Number and percentage of affordable properties by region

Region	Total number of ads	Number affordable	Number of affordable properties that were share houses
South	282	25	12
North	97	23	11
North-West	20	3	0
Statewide	399	51	23

Table 2: Number and percentage of affordable properties by household type

Household type	Number affordable	Percentage affordable
Couple on Age Pension	17	4.3%
Single person on Age Pension or Disability Support Pension (1 bedroom properties)	2	0.5%
Single person on Age Pension or Disability Support Pension (share houses)	23	5.8%
Single parent with one child	2	0.5%
Couple on Newstart Allowance¹with two children	11	2.8%
Single parent with two children	1	0.3%
Single person on Newstart Allowance	2	0.5%
Single person on Youth Allowance²	0	0.0%
Single person on Austudy³	0	0.0%

¹Newstart Allowance is the unemployment benefit.
²Youth Allowance is paid to young people aged 16-24 who are studying full-time and young people aged 16-21 who are looking for full-time work.
³Austudy is paid to people aged 25 and over who are studying full time.

Methodology
This survey defined an affordable rent as one which took up less than 30% of the household’s income. The 30% benchmark is commonly used as an indicator of “housing stress” among low income households.

For the purposes of this survey, a room in a share house or a bedsit was considered only suitable for a single person, a 1-2 bedroom property suitable for a single person or couple, and a 2-3 bedroom property suitable for parents with children, depending on the number of children.

A small number of advertisements were excluded from the survey, including advertisements for furnished accommodation available on a weekly basis, Housing Tasmania swaps, a property where rent was waived in return for work and housing in retirement villages. Where ads referred to multiple properties but did not indicate how many were available, for the purposes of this survey, they were each counted as two properties.

Each household was assumed to be receiving the maximum rate of income support, including Family Tax Benefit if applicable.

Media enquiries:
For further comment, please contact Kathleen Flanagan on 6213 3566.