Simple solutions: Anglicare Tasmania releases annual Rental Affordability Snapshot

On the eve of the Federal Election, Anglicare Tasmania urges all parties and candidates to commit to a substantial investment in social and affordable housing and an immediate increase in the rate of JobSeeker and other income support payments.

Anglicare’s annual Rental Affordability Snapshot reviews properties listed for rent on a weekend in March and then assesses if they are affordable and appropriate for households on low and fixed incomes, including the Age Pension, JobSeeker and Youth Allowance.

It found that of the 845 properties listed for long-term residential lease, none were affordable and appropriate for Tasmanians relying on Single Parenting Payment, JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, the Disability Support Pension or Age Pension.

Policy and Advocacy Officer with Anglicare’s Social Action and Research Centre, Ginny Toombs, said this year’s Snapshot showed 25% fewer listings than in the previous year, and record low vacancy rates across all regions. For people on the lowest incomes, there are no affordable rentals, and the gap between what they can afford and advertised rents is growing.

“We’re seeing upward pressure on rents and unmet demand for social housing,” she said. “This situation is putting households under unprecedented stress; it’s tipping Tasmanians into homelessness and is a barrier to addressing issues such as domestic and family violence.”

Ms Toombs said action that lifts people on the lowest incomes out of poverty and increases access to affordable housing was long overdue, and the solutions were clear-cut.

We urgently need more high quality social housing built at a sufficient scale to meet current and future demand. Building houses takes time, but in the meantime, lifting the incomes of our most disadvantaged community members will immediately lift them out of poverty. We know it can be done and we know that it works.