Tuesday, 26 March 2024
    04
    May
    040521

    Families left in the cold

    Perth’s rental market has become so tight landlords are able to choose only their ideal tenants, with low-income families who have children often missing out on urgently needed housing, WA Today reports.

    A survey by Anglicare WA shows the number of available rental properties for low-income families dropped by 50 per cent over the past 12 months, with the market becoming so tight that landlords can pick and choose who they want living in their properties.

    The charity’s chief executive Mark Glasson said often couples without children were chosen over families with kids.

    He told 6PR Mornings he expected the availability of rental properties to become much worse in coming months with the end of the rental moratorium.

    “Are we looking down the barrel of having child bonds, where we normally have pet bonds? It really is a terrible situation,” he told 6PR’s Liam Bartlett.

    “The families we see – families that are out of work or on low incomes – are really priced out of the market anyway … and if you’re not the ideal tenant, you just don’t get in.”

    Perth’s median rental price is now $430 a week.

    Mr Glasson said more than 900 people rang Anglicare WA for emergency assistance last month, after cuts to JobSeeker payments and the removal of all other assistance rolled out during the pandemic.

    FULL STORY

    ‘Will we need a child bond?’: Perth families with kids left in the cold as landlords pick and choose (WA Today)

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