Australian rental market has become so contracted experts are suggesting a return to housing commission estates as a solution. The latest data shows vacancy rates are less than one percent in almost 70 communities across the country, leaving many families feeling homeless, living in tents and caravans.
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00:00Chantelle Podaski and her son Zeon have been trying to secure a rental in Castlemaine,
00:07northwest of Melbourne, for more than a year.
00:10In the meantime, they're doing their best to make this bit of bushland a home.
00:15I've gone from hardly being able to afford a rental and maybe being able to get somebody
00:20else in to rent with me, but now there's not even that available.
00:27Housing data shows there are 68 regional communities across Australia with a rental
00:32vacancy rate of less than 1%.
00:34It's wonderful for the owner-occupiers who buy those homes, but of course every property
00:40that's sold by an investor to an owner-occupier is one less rental property available.
00:45In Castlemaine, there are just 10 rental listings online, so housing workers are approaching
00:49owners of vacant properties, and even asking shop owners to lease out their upstairs rooms.
00:55We've managed to release 10 vacant dwellings as affordable rentals, and three shop tops.
01:00And availability is just part of the issue.
01:03Since COVID, rents for houses have climbed $280 a week, and with Australians now paying
01:08an average of $700 a week in rent, housing experts say a return to commission housing
01:14is needed.
01:15That would mean that people who are currently having to rely on private rental don't have
01:19to.
01:20They're in social housing, like post-war 50s, 60s Australia.
01:24As the Podaski family continues to try and keep their food cool by day, and themselves
01:29warm at night, a housing solution seems a long way off.
01:33It's tiring, emotionally and mentally.
01:36I don't know, you just get to the point where you think, what's the point?