Thursday, 18 May 2023

Housing affordability

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (09:47): Renting in Victoria is becoming like an episode of Horrible Histories. Let me share with you a few of the housing horror stories that Victorian renters are facing right now. There is a couple in the northern suburbs who are facing eviction from their home of 18 years. They both are over 55, have complex health needs and receive the disability support payment. They are facing homelessness as they find themselves ‘completely excluded from the private rental market due to a lack of financial resources’. Their landlord owns three properties in their street and 10 in the area. Another story: a woman and her two teenage sons in the eastern suburbs have moved 40 times in the past six years. Imagine the cost, the stress and the disruption this causes. There is absolutely no end to the list of awful places that people in Melbourne and across Victoria are renting right now. In Brunswick you can pay $310 a week for the luxury of a sweet, cosy apartment with no kitchen. I could go on. Homes are being offered in appalling conditions, and all the while landlords know that if tenants get too pushy when it comes to expecting basic living standards they can always bump up the rent and suggest they pay or find something else. The rental crisis is out of control. We need a two-year freeze on rent increases and a permanent rent cap in line with wage growth. We need to take action now to fix this system so that all renters in Victoria have a decent, safe, secure and genuinely affordable home to live in.