Rental shortage ‘worst in memory’

VETERAN local Toodyay real estate agent Tony Maddox reckons it’s the hardest rental market in his 34 years in the industry.

“It’s real tough in Toodyay and even tough in Merredin with no chance of improvement”.

Even when you can find local rental accommodation some places “are not fit for human habitation” according to Roz Davidson from Toodyay Locals Care.

She knows of a number of substandard rental properties where “people feel threatened to speak out” for fear of being evicted.

Online real estate sites showed that on 25 July 2024 there were three rental properties
listed in the Toodyay area with rents from $360 to $850 per week.

Mr Maddox confirmed that one of those rentals had in fact “gone”, indicating that rentals are quickly snapped up and the situation in Northam is no different.

The lack of rental properties is hurting local employers with many facing higher staff turnover.

Many newly recruited staff find the commute from Perth expensive with the high cost of fuel and also time consuming.

The increased travel time may also mean an increased risk of a traffic accident.

After all, Toodyay Road was listed as an “animal collision hotspot” by national
insurer AAMI earlier this year.

The insurer claims that the most dangerous time for animal collisions is at dusk, with a
quarter of accidents occurring from 4.30- 8pm, about the time many workers begin the
commute home.

All of above is a moot point if employers cannot find people in the first instance,
because they cannot be housed.

The Shire of Toodyay is facing its own challenges with Acting CEO Tabitha Bateman confirming that the shire also struggles with obtaining staff because of the
lack of local housing.

The shire has recently, however, obtained $125,700 of funding through the
Commonwealth Government’s $500M Housing Support Program.

Toodyay is one of six Wheatbelt shires to receive funding with the others being Victoria
Plains, Moora, Dandaragan, Goomalling and West Arthur all of which will share in
$877,065 to support the future delivery of affordable housing in the region.

This government funding may be too little too late with rental stress in Australia at
record highs with Toodyay and surrounding areas not being immune to what is in effect
a national housing crisis.

Anglicare Australia has released the June 2024 Cost of Living Index, an analysis which
compares the incomes against essential living costs such as rent, food, and transport.

This edition covers households on income support payments.

A family of four with two parents on payments can’t afford essential expenses, falling short by $386 a week.

A single parent on the Parenting Payment falls behind by $262 a week.

A person on JobSeeker living in a sharehouse falls behind by $69 meaning
they could not afford to move out of shared accommodation.

A report by Anglicare in 2022 found that just over half of all available homes in the
Wheatbelt were deemed “affordable” for lower income families, where rent takes up
less than 30 percent of household income.

Housing is the biggest living cost facing households, with average rents rising by
more than 50% since 2020.

These cost increases in the private rental market have placed increased pressure on
social housing.

As a result of these pressures a WA government inquiry Funding of homelessness services in Western Australia was launched in 2021.

The report from the inquiry tabled in the WA state parliament in June 2023 assessed there
were 19,000 applications for social housing with 34,000 individuals waitlisted and 9000
priority listed.

The average wait time for social housing is two years and an unmet need for 3900 social
housing and 19300 affordable housing across WA.

Expenditure on homelessness services were found to be less in WA with spend
per person being $33.83 compared to the national average of $47.49.

According to Census figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics rates of
homelessness are higher in regional areas of WA compared with Perth.

In WA one in three people experiencing homelessness are Indigenous, a high number
compared with about 1 in 30 of the general population being Indigenous.

The homelessness stereotype may be one of people rough sleeping but this type of
homelessness only represents 6% of the homeless population.

People living in overcrowded dwellings, couch surfing, or relying on temporary
accommodation such as living in caravanparks or camping in shire reserves are also
considered homeless.

In Toodyay, Greg Warburton, the shire’s Reserves Management Officer, said that he has seen rough sleepers in local reserves including Pelham and Wallaby Reserves as
well as Cobbler Pool.

Joe Fitch, founder of Square Peg Community Support has first-hand experience of the rental crisis when he and his family had to leave their Northam home of five years after it was sold.

At that time, his family was at risk of homelessness until they moved to a friend’s
house in Toodyay.

For Joe and his community group, raising awareness about homelessness as well as directly assisting those in need is a mission.

The theme for the 2024 Homelessness Week which is to run from August 5 to 8 is
“Homelessness Action Now”.

The aim of the week aligns with Joe’s group, to raise awareness about homelessness
and the solutions to end it.

Square Peg Community Support will be hosting a stall at both the Toodyay International Food Festival and the Bilya Festival in Northam.

This is after successfully hosting events at both festivals in 2023 and obtaining much needed additional funding of $5000 from Shelter WA