Affordable rentals a thing of the past

OLDER people are at risk of homelessness or early entry to aged care as rental housing affordability continues to plummet.

A new Anglicare Australia report has sparked renewed calls from seniors groups for greater investment in affordable housing and short-term changes to increase the rate of Commonwealth Rental Assistance.

The research found of 65,600 private rental properties available nationally on the snapshot day in April, only 3.4 per cent were affordable for an age pensioner couple, and fewer than 1 per cent were affordable for a single person on a government payment.

An affordable rental was defined as one that cost less than a third of the household’s income. The news was worst in metropolitan areas, where a single age pensioner could afford only 0.3 per cent of properties (1.1 per cent for a couple). In Sydney, fewer than 0.1 per cent of properties were affordable for a single age pensioner, and in Perth and the Northern Territory no properties were affordable.

A person on a disability support pension could afford 0.1 per cent of city rentals, or 51 of the 51,357 metropolitan properties available.

The report reiterated the dangers for at-risk groups including older women, citing data from Housing for the Aged showing that 70 per cent of people seeking its services were women, most of whom were living in poverty after a relationship breakdown.

It said dwindling public and social housing stocks and tax laws that encouraged property investment had pushed up the value of the limited housing stock and priced low-income households out of the rental market.

The aged care system was designed primarily for home owners, it said, leaving renters more likely to be living in poverty after paying housing costs.

“Low incomes limit this cohort’s choice of suitable homes, irrespective of competing on other grounds in a tight rental market,” the report found.

“The lack of income also means a reduced capacity to seek home maintenance and modification services to adapt their homes to their ageing needs.

“With a scarce supply of housing in the private market, older people may be required to move into residential aged care at an earlier age, which can be as, or more, costly than private rentals.

“Having little self-determining power over where they live, some may develop feelings of isolation and loss of control in their lives, in turn placing more stress on their mental and physical health and going against the positive ageing ethos that is promoted in our society.”

With more people going into retirement renting or holding a mortgage, demand on housing stock is expected to increase.

The report called for government leadership on a national affordable housing strategy, increasing the Newstart allowance to keep pace with housing costs, a review of Commonwealth Rent Assistance and redirection of negative gearing toward expanding affordable housing stock.

Council on the Ageing national chief executive Ian Yates said Commonwealth Rent Assistance should be increased by 30 per cent.

He said 37 per cent of renters aged over 65 receiving rent assistance in the private market spent more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs.

“There is a growing number of older people, particularly older women, who are at risk of homelessness for the first time in their lives when they simply can’t make increasing rental payments,” he said.

“They don’t have any superannuation to draw on, often have high medical costs, and often they’d like to keep working but because of age discrimination they can’t.”